One hundred day cough

After a cold or acute bronchitis, sensitive airways can keep triggering a cough after other symptoms improve. Mucus draining from the nose, asthma, or acid reflux can also irritate the throat and airways. Less common explanations include bronchiectasis or another lung problem. A clinician will ask whether the cough is dry or phlegmy, worse at night or with exercise, linked to meals, and accompanied by wheeze, breathlessness, fever, or blood.

Book a medical review rather than relying on the nickname for a long cough. Record when it began, its triggers, sputum changes, medicines, smoking or vaping exposure, and contact with unwell people. Drink fluids, avoid smoke, and use any prescribed inhaler exactly as directed. Do not start antibiotics left from an earlier illness; they may not address the cause.

Seek urgent help for severe or rapidly worsening breathlessness, chest pain, coughing blood, blue lips, confusion, fainting, or a high fever with marked weakness. Arrange prompt assessment for unexplained weight loss, night sweats, repeated chest infections, or a cough in a person with significant lung disease. Children, older adults, and people with reduced immunity may need earlier advice.

Ask what features point toward reflux, nasal drainage, asthma, infection, or another lung condition. Check whether you need a chest examination, breathing test, imaging, or a sputum sample, and agree on the symptoms that should prompt an earlier review.