Coughing fits lasting from 6-7 hours per episode, accompanied by phlegm, red face, pale blue lips, and poor appetite. After the coughing fit, the child coughs up long, sticky phlegm resembling chewing gum residue. The patient was diagnosed with severe pneumonia combined with whooping cough.
Upon reviewing the patient's medical history, it was discovered that when the child first exhibited symptoms of coughing, the family took the child for examination and treatment. However, after 10 days of persistent coughing without improvement, the child was brought to the Pediatric Department of the Central Tropical Disease Hospital for further treatment. Currently, the child has no fever, and the coughing fits have decreased.
According to Dr. Nguyễn Thành Lê, Deputy Head of the Pediatric Department, Central Tropical Disease Hospital: From the beginning of the year to date, the Pediatric Department has recorded sporadic cases of whooping cough. Whooping cough typically begins quietly with symptoms of rhinitis such as nasal congestion, runny nose, mild sore throat, mild dry cough, and low-grade fever or no fever, lasting approximately 1-2 weeks. This initial phase is easily misdiagnosed as mild respiratory tract infections in children, as the cough is often mild and easily mistaken for bronchiolitis.
The patient in question is also a case of this nature. Following the initial phase, the coughing fits became more severe, lasting from 10 to 20 hours or from 30 seconds to 1 minute of continuous coughing without breathing, causing the child to be unable to inhale oxygen and resulting in respiratory failure. The severe coughing fits ended with a "hiccup" sound when inhaling and may be accompanied by vomiting. Although the child is usually exhausted after a severe coughing fit, the child appears relatively healthy between coughing fits.
