Ask Dr Miriam

QMy 18-month-old grandson seems to be having an awful lot of chest infections and they seem to go on for so long. I nag my daughter take him back to the doctor but she won’t. What do you think?

Well, the first thing I’d like to say is that the normal length of runny noses, coughs, colds, and chest symptoms in children is longer than people think.

It may surprise you to know that a cough typically can take 25 days to get better. Furthermore, a common cold often lasts

Amore than two weeks. That being said, a wet-sounding cough every day for four weeks warrants medical instigation to exclude any lung disease. A recurrent cough with cough-free periods of at least a week between bouts is probably due to a cold virus and if your grandson is eating well and doesn’t have a temperature he’s probably OK.

But if you’re really worried about him persuade your daughter to take your grandson for a check-up.