Abstract
Cough is said to be one of the chief complaints which are encountered in everyday practice. Cough deteriorates not only children's life, but also their parents' QOL. In recent years, asthma guidelines are published, and the QOL of asthma patients has improved by them. However, it can not be said that treatment of chronic cough is enough. Recently, "Guidelines for the Treatment and Management of Pediatric Cough" was published by the Japanese society of pediatric pulmonology. In the guidelines, childhood cough is classified into three categories; an acute cough, a prolonged cough, and a chronic cough, according to adult cough classification by continuing period. Clinical features of pediatric cough resemble those of adult cough basically, but allergic diseases such as asthma and allergic rhinitis are common cause of chronic cough continued more than 8 weeks in children. It has been speculated that there is a different mechanism among childhood cough and adult cough, and the main cause is different in each childhood period; neonate, infant, school child, and puberty. Thus, objective method is need.
