What is Croup Cough

Croup cough, a group of respiratory diseases, is also called laryngotracheobronchitis. It's an infectious illness involving the respiratory system - the larynx (which includes the vocal cords and the voice box), the trachea (windpipe) and the airways which lead down to the lungs - referred to as bronchial tubes. It usually affects children upwards of 6 months and up to 6 years of age. It is caused primarily by different viruses, including those which cause the common cold and influenza. Occasionally however, it may be caused by a bacterial infection as well. As it is with most viral diseases, there isn't a cure, but symptomatic treatments exist to help the diseased child while he/she recovers.

Croup is common in childhood and may cause serious difficulty in breathing in children. It is more common in boys than girls and has a tendency to occur more commonly in winter, late fall and early spring when the weather is cold.

Croup is easily recognizable given its distinctive symptoms which usually include a runny nose and a cough which usually sounds rather brassy - like a dog's bark.

Croup is often characterised by an abrupt onset of symptoms. A child may go to bed perfectly well but wake up in the night itself having trouble breathing and with a croupy cough. Croup causes a rather different kind of coughing compared to other illnesses - one that sounds like a seal barking, rather than a wet type or deep cough caused by other respiratory illnesses.

While there isn't a specific vaccine or medication to prevent croup, since it is a contagious disease, avoiding children's exposure to people with sickness is an efficient deterrent to keep them from contracting it. The intensity of symptoms in croup is variable and so are the treatments. A child would usually recover from croup in a week with another week of cold.