Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsSymptomsCausesRisk FactorsComplicationsDiagnosisTreatmentPrevention
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Symptoms
Causes
Risk Factors
Complications
Diagnosis
Treatment
Prevention
Bronchitisin kids occurs when achest coldleads to inflammation of the large airways to the lungs called thebronchi. If your child has been coughing for more than a week, they could have bronchitis.
Acute bronchitis usually comes on quickly due to a viral or bacterial infection. Apart from a cough,symptoms of bronchitisin children may include a sore throat, body aches, and fatigue (feeling tired).These can last for up to three weeks.
This article explains the signs of bronchitis in kids, how viral and bacterial bronchitis are treated, and when you may need to have your child see their healthcare provider. It also discusses serious complications that can arise in children with bronchitis, such aspneumonia.
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Signs of Bronchitis in Kids
Bronchitis in kids is often diagnosed when a child has a persistent cough that lasts for more than a week. The condition often begins with adry cough that gradually turns wet or productive.
A productive cough means your child is coughing upmucus. The cough is their body’s attempt to remove the mucus from their airways. Infants and young children maygag or vomitdue to the mucus.
Other symptoms to watch for include:
Bronchitis symptoms may last for up to three weeks.
When Bronchitis May Be SeriousIf your child has a high fever or is struggling to breathe, their bronchitis may be serious. Contact your healthcare provider or call 911 right away.
When Bronchitis May Be Serious
If your child has a high fever or is struggling to breathe, their bronchitis may be serious. Contact your healthcare provider or call 911 right away.
The most common causes of bronchitis in kids are viruses and bacteria.It usually starts out as anupper respiratory infection, such as a cold.
Other causes of acute bronchitis in kids include irritants like:
Some children may be more at risk of getting bronchitis than others. In addition to irritant exposure, common risk factors include:
Most cases of bronchitis resolve on their own, but the condition can sometimes turn into pneumonia. Pneumonia is a lung infection that can cause the alveoli, the air sacs in the lungs, to become inflamed and fill with fluid. It can cause symptoms similar to those of bronchitis, such as a cough and shortness of breath.
If bronchitis results in pneumonia, it may be treated with prescriptions or over-the-counter medication. Your child will also require lots of rest.
In rare cases, some children who develop pneumonia may require hospitalization for oxygen therapy.
You may assume your child has bronchitis based on their symptoms. However, it’s best to let a healthcare provider make that call. That’s because bronchitis can sometimes be confused with pneumonia orbronchiolitis, which affects the smaller airways known as thebronchioles, rather than the larger ones.
Bronchiolitis is more common in young children, typically babies between the ages of 3 months and 6 months, and usually doesn’t involve the production of mucus.In contrast, bronchitis usually affects older children and teens and typically does lead to a wet cough.
A healthcare provider will conduct a physical exam, which will include listening to your child’s lungs. If your healthcare provider suspects bronchiolitis, they may check your child’spulse oximetry, which measures the amount of oxygen in the blood. A chest x-ray can rule out pneumonia.
How Bronchitis Is Diagnosed
Bronchitis vs. Pneumonia: How to Spot the Key Differences
Treatments
The treatment for bronchitis depends on your child’s symptoms and the cause of their condition.
While medication can help resolve a bacterial infection, viral infections simply have to run their course. In the meantime, symptomatic treatment can be given for comfort.
At Home Treatment
Once mucus starts to come loose in their bronchi, it will be easier to cough it up and remove it. To help this along and ease discomfort, try:
When to See a Healthcare Provider
Viral bronchitis usually resolves on its own within a few weeks. Antibiotics should never be used to treat viral infections since they will not help and may contribute to future antibiotic resistance.
Most children start feeling better after 10 days, with full recovery sometimes taking two to three weeks.
Bacterial bronchitis may require antibiotic therapy. If your child has had a cough for more than 10 days, see your healthcare provider to find out if they have developed a bacterial infection.
Amoxicillin is generally considered the first-line treatment for bronchitis in kids.The medication is usually taken twice daily, and the number of days needed depends on your child’s symptom severity.
Be sure to help your child finish their full prescription even once they start feeling better. When an antibiotic is stopped early, the infection can linger and the bacteria may become resistant to antibiotic treatment.
Try giving the medication with food to prevent nausea, vomiting, anddiarrhea—all common side effects of antibiotics. Giving your child a pediatricprobiotic supplementmay help as well.
If your child is prescribed liquid amoxicillin, you can mix it into their food or drink. Amoxicillin capsules should never be opened or crushed. Most kids begin feeling better after three days of antibiotic therapy.
Preventing Bronchitis in Kids
There are steps you can take to prevent bronchitis in kids, some of which you will need to rely on your child to follow through on.
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Summary
Bronchitis begins with a chest cold that leads to inflammation of the large airways to the lungs called the bronchi. Most cases of bronchitis in kids resolve on their own without the need for antibiotics or other prescription drugs, though some may require treatment. It’s best to let a healthcare provider evaluate your child and make that decision.
Once your child is diagnosed with bronchitis, encourage them to rest as much as possible. Set up a cool mist humidifier in your home, and offer them water and fluids throughout the day.
It may take weeks for your child to fully recover, but most kids start feeling more like themselves after about 10 days. See a healthcare provider right away if your child develops a high fever, bloody mucus, or difficulty breathing.
9 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Chest cold (acute bronchitis).Stanford Medicine Children’s Health.Acute bronchitis in children.Kinkade S, Long NA.Acute bronchitis.Am Fam Physician. 2016;94(7):560-565.Piedimonte G, Perez MK.Respiratory syncytial virus infection and bronchiolitis[published correction appears in Pediatr Rev. 2015 Feb;36(2):85].Pediatr Rev. 2014;35(12):519–530. doi:10.1542/pir.35-12-519American Academy of Family Physicians.Acute bronchitis.Wopker PM, Schwermer M, Sommer S, et al.Complementary and alternative medicine in the treatment of acute bronchitis in children: a systematic review.Complement Ther Med. 2020;49:102217. doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2019.102217Morgan JR, Carey KM, Barlam TF, Christiansen CL, Drainoni ML.Inappropriate antibiotic prescribing for acute bronchitis in children and impact on subsequent episodes of care and treatment.Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2019;38(3):271-274. doi:10.1097/INF.0000000000002117Gallucci M, Pedretti M, Giannetti A, et al.When the cough does not improve: a review on protracted bacterial bronchitis in children.Front Pediatr. 2020;8:433. doi:10.3389/fped.2020.00433MedlinePlus.Amoxicillin.Additional ReadingChang AB, Oppenheimer JJ, Weinberger MM, et al.Management of children with chronic wet cough and protracted bacterial bronchitis: CHEST guideline and expert panel report.Chest. 2017;151(4):884-890. doi:10.1016/j.chest.2017.01.025MedlinePlus.Humidifiers and health.
9 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Chest cold (acute bronchitis).Stanford Medicine Children’s Health.Acute bronchitis in children.Kinkade S, Long NA.Acute bronchitis.Am Fam Physician. 2016;94(7):560-565.Piedimonte G, Perez MK.Respiratory syncytial virus infection and bronchiolitis[published correction appears in Pediatr Rev. 2015 Feb;36(2):85].Pediatr Rev. 2014;35(12):519–530. doi:10.1542/pir.35-12-519American Academy of Family Physicians.Acute bronchitis.Wopker PM, Schwermer M, Sommer S, et al.Complementary and alternative medicine in the treatment of acute bronchitis in children: a systematic review.Complement Ther Med. 2020;49:102217. doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2019.102217Morgan JR, Carey KM, Barlam TF, Christiansen CL, Drainoni ML.Inappropriate antibiotic prescribing for acute bronchitis in children and impact on subsequent episodes of care and treatment.Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2019;38(3):271-274. doi:10.1097/INF.0000000000002117Gallucci M, Pedretti M, Giannetti A, et al.When the cough does not improve: a review on protracted bacterial bronchitis in children.Front Pediatr. 2020;8:433. doi:10.3389/fped.2020.00433MedlinePlus.Amoxicillin.Additional ReadingChang AB, Oppenheimer JJ, Weinberger MM, et al.Management of children with chronic wet cough and protracted bacterial bronchitis: CHEST guideline and expert panel report.Chest. 2017;151(4):884-890. doi:10.1016/j.chest.2017.01.025MedlinePlus.Humidifiers and health.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Chest cold (acute bronchitis).Stanford Medicine Children’s Health.Acute bronchitis in children.Kinkade S, Long NA.Acute bronchitis.Am Fam Physician. 2016;94(7):560-565.Piedimonte G, Perez MK.Respiratory syncytial virus infection and bronchiolitis[published correction appears in Pediatr Rev. 2015 Feb;36(2):85].Pediatr Rev. 2014;35(12):519–530. doi:10.1542/pir.35-12-519American Academy of Family Physicians.Acute bronchitis.Wopker PM, Schwermer M, Sommer S, et al.Complementary and alternative medicine in the treatment of acute bronchitis in children: a systematic review.Complement Ther Med. 2020;49:102217. doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2019.102217Morgan JR, Carey KM, Barlam TF, Christiansen CL, Drainoni ML.Inappropriate antibiotic prescribing for acute bronchitis in children and impact on subsequent episodes of care and treatment.Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2019;38(3):271-274. doi:10.1097/INF.0000000000002117Gallucci M, Pedretti M, Giannetti A, et al.When the cough does not improve: a review on protracted bacterial bronchitis in children.Front Pediatr. 2020;8:433. doi:10.3389/fped.2020.00433MedlinePlus.Amoxicillin.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Chest cold (acute bronchitis).
Stanford Medicine Children’s Health.Acute bronchitis in children.
Kinkade S, Long NA.Acute bronchitis.Am Fam Physician. 2016;94(7):560-565.
Piedimonte G, Perez MK.Respiratory syncytial virus infection and bronchiolitis[published correction appears in Pediatr Rev. 2015 Feb;36(2):85].Pediatr Rev. 2014;35(12):519–530. doi:10.1542/pir.35-12-519
American Academy of Family Physicians.Acute bronchitis.
Wopker PM, Schwermer M, Sommer S, et al.Complementary and alternative medicine in the treatment of acute bronchitis in children: a systematic review.Complement Ther Med. 2020;49:102217. doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2019.102217
Morgan JR, Carey KM, Barlam TF, Christiansen CL, Drainoni ML.Inappropriate antibiotic prescribing for acute bronchitis in children and impact on subsequent episodes of care and treatment.Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2019;38(3):271-274. doi:10.1097/INF.0000000000002117
Gallucci M, Pedretti M, Giannetti A, et al.When the cough does not improve: a review on protracted bacterial bronchitis in children.Front Pediatr. 2020;8:433. doi:10.3389/fped.2020.00433
MedlinePlus.Amoxicillin.
Chang AB, Oppenheimer JJ, Weinberger MM, et al.Management of children with chronic wet cough and protracted bacterial bronchitis: CHEST guideline and expert panel report.Chest. 2017;151(4):884-890. doi:10.1016/j.chest.2017.01.025MedlinePlus.Humidifiers and health.
Chang AB, Oppenheimer JJ, Weinberger MM, et al.Management of children with chronic wet cough and protracted bacterial bronchitis: CHEST guideline and expert panel report.Chest. 2017;151(4):884-890. doi:10.1016/j.chest.2017.01.025
MedlinePlus.Humidifiers and health.
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