Table 1.

A summary of the main differences between acute and chronic cough in pediatric age.

	Duration	Etiology	Evaluation
Acute cough	<4 weeks	URTIs Croup LRTIs Ambiental agents’ exposition	As acute cough is usually self-limited, a “wait and see” approach is preferred
Chronic cough	>4 weeks	PBB (children aged 1–2) Asthma (children aged >2) GERD, asthma, post-infective, psychogenic cough (adolescents)	As chronic cough is often a symptom of an underlying disease, pediatric-specific cough management protocols should be used

(GERD: gastroesophageal reflux disease; LRTIs: lower respiratory tract infections; PBB: protracted bacterial bronchitis; URTIs: upper respiratory tract infections).