The virus affects the upper respiratory tract and the area above and below the vocal cords. These reactions make it very difficult for air to pass through your child's airways.
Attacks can last several hours and tend to recur over the next five to six days.
Croup commonly has an acute onset in the middle of the night. This condition usually occurs in children under the age of three or four. A cold or other upper respiratory infection may have preceded the onset of croup. Another infectious process, known as epiglottitis, resembles croup but is a much more serious condition. The infecting organism for this disease is a bacteria, Haemophilus Influenza type b .