Cough is a reflex action to clear the throat of mucus or foreign particles/antigens. Cough is an explosive expiration that provides a normal protective mechanism for clearing the trachea bronchial tree of secretions and foreign material.
What happens in cough?
There are generally 4 types of cough:
Wet cough, also called as Productive cough, is a cough that typically brings up mucus. Wet coughs are commonly caused by a cold or the flu.
Dry cough does not bring up mucus. It mainly occurs because of inflammation or irritation in the respiratory tract, but no excess mucus to cough up.
Croup is a viral infection that typically affects children age 5 and younger. Croup causes the upper airway to become irritated and swollen making it difficult to breathe.
Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a bacterial infection that causes violent coughing fits. During whooping cough attacks, the lungs release all the oxygen they have, causing people to inhale violently with a “whoop” sound.
Whom does it affect?
People of any age can get cough of any of the four types and it is no gender specific as well.
People with low immunity and hyper sensitivity people are more prone to dry and allergic cough.
