What causes persistent cold and cough in children?

Q: I am regularly using the DoctorNDTV site and find it very useful. My son is 4.2 years old and is now in Shillong which is one of the coldest places in India. From childhood he has been suffering from cold and cough. Till the age of of two and half years he had cold then cough followed by fever. Presently he gets only a cold which is followed three or four days later by cough. This has been happening quite regularly. But at present he has morning cough (sometimes at night) and a running nose. The doctor says he has a problem of tonsillitis and every time that he has cold, he will have the problem of cough. All paediatricians advise that this will go away with growing age. Kindly advise for future course of action.

A:From your descriptions it appears that your child has Hyper reactive airway disease. Which means he has respiratory allergy manifesting as recurrent cough and cold. Please get your son examined by an ENT specialist to rule out adenoid enlargement. Most of these allergic disorders tend to settle with growing age but right now we should try to use minimum possible medicines to keep him symptom free. Very often inhaled medicines are helpful.