My daughter has cough. Shall I give her Dexona?

Question

Hello doctor,

My 5-year-old daughter is suffering from a cough and mild fever for the last four days. Doctor prescribed with LCF Syrup and Azithral Syrup, but she is still coughing. Today, when she was sleeping, we heard cracking and wheezing sound and difficulty in breathing. Shall I give her Dexona?

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

1. Please do CBC (complete blood count) and a chest X-ray before starting Dexona (Dexamethasone) as it is a steroid. Also, there may be a history of childhood asthma (hyper-reactive airway disease) and it is better to be sure before giving this medicine.

2. This mostlylooks like hyper-reactive airway diseasefor which the initial treatment is a common cough and cold medicines. If this does not reduce, then you should add Dexona or even better Hydrocortisone.

3. Later on, you should add Montelukast and if this also does not take care of the issue, then nebulization with Duolin (Salbutamol and Ipratropium) and Budecort (Budesonide) is advised.

4. Thelast drug route of choice is inhalers. These are the steps involved in the treatment and control of hyper-reactive airway disease. This treatment plan should be made by a physician in person after detailed evaluation.

5. As of now, you can use Dexona, but with the consent of the physician and after the tests that I told you so that we can be sure that there is no infection.

6. Please note that hyper-reactive airway disease is an age bound process and usually resolves by the age of 8 years. Sometimes, very rarely, it may last up to 12 years. The medicines explained to you above only help in controlling the disease and they do not cure it.