Progress of clinical diagnosis and therapy of protracted bacterial bronchitis in children / 中国小儿急救医学

ABSTRACT

Protracted bacterial bronchitis(PBB)is one of the common causes of chronic cough in children.PBB is characterized by a chronic wet or productive cough( >4 weeks)without signs of an alterna-tive cause and responds to 2 weeks of appropriate antibiotics.If bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage are performed,evidence of bronchitis and purulent endobronchial secretions are seen. Bronchoalveolar lavage specimens typically reveal marked neutrophil infiltration and culture large numbers of respiratory bacterial pathogens,especially Haemophilus influenzae.The pathobiologic mechanisms of PBB remain uncertain.