The appearance of such a symptom as a cough makes life very difficult. It's one thing if you always mark it at this time of the year in response to the flowering of some grasses or to contact with another allergen (for example, with washing powder). Another thing is when the cough does not cough up (that is, it is dry), while it has been tormenting you for more than a day.
If a cough does not go away for 2 weeks or a little more (up to 20 days), it is considered acute. Causes are usually respiratory infections:
1) Viral: influenza, parainfluenza, adenovirus infection. Such a cough is usually dry at first, and a small amount of mucous (clear or whitish) sputum may be coughed up. It is accompanied by a rise in temperature, weakness, runny nose, redness of the eyes.
2) Bacterial: staphylococcal, streptococcal, pneumococcal infections, whooping cough. These microbes can enter the body against the background of an already existing viral infection. In this case, there is no such situation as a cough does not cough up: a rather largeamount of yellow, yellow-white, yellow-green (purulent) sputum.
A self-occurring (not against the background of SARS) bacterial infection most often manifests itself in the form of fever, there may be a dry cough, with its gradual transformation into a wet one. Profuse purulent sputum is produced.
Cough for a week or two is a sign of the onset of a chronic illness
1. If the cough is not coughed up, then it may be a manifestation of bronchial asthma. In this case, there is no temperature, a person may be disturbed by difficulty exhaling, a moderate feeling of lack of air. Wheezing can be heard on exhalation (even at a distance), when counting the number of breaths - there are more than 20 of them per minute.
2. Chronical bronchitis. In this case, the cause is often bacterial or viral, the infection enters the bronchi, usually against the background of smoking. Here, the cough is often wet, the sputum is purulent, and a large amount of it leaves in the morning. More rapid fatigue, weakness are characteristic.
3. Pulmonary tuberculosis. In this case, the cough is rather wet, there is hemoptysis, weakness, sweating at night, a slight increase in temperature.
4. Taking drugs such as Enalapril, Berlipril, Captopril (Captopress), Lisinopril cause a situation where the cough is not coughed up, it is dry and quite exhausting. Withdrawal of the drug leads to the disappearance of symptoms.
5. Heart disease, including hypertension. At the same time, the cough is dry,usually occurs at night.
6. Oncological diseases of the lungs. This is characterized not only by a dry cough, but also by a decrease in body weight, weakness, and there may be hemoptysis.
7. Occupational lung diseases: silicosis, asbestosis.
Recommendations for a fairly long course of the disease
If the cough is not coughing up, then do the following tests:
a) measurement of blood pressure;
b) measuring body temperature three times a day;
c) complete blood count;
d) X-ray examination of the lungs.
This must be done to find out why the cough does not go away for a week or more.
Before the results of the examination are ready, do inhalations with soda 1%, boiled potato husks. If there is a suspicion of the allergic nature of the cough, then taking Erius, Cetrin or another antihistamine will be effective. If the body temperature is elevated, then inhalations should not be done, it is better to drink a Lazolvan (Ambroxol) tablet and undergo examinations that can be used to conclude whether you have an infectious disease and whether you need antibiotics.
