Each time it's been an infection I caught from the boys. Many people suffer a brief attack of acute bronchitis with cough and mucus production when they have severe colds. Acute bronchitis is usually not associated with fever. Chronic bronchitis is defined by the presence of a mucus-producing cough most days of the month, three months of a year for two successive years without other underlying disease to explain the cough. It may precede or accompany pulmonary emphysema.
Cigarette smoking is by far the most common cause of chronic bronchitis.
The bronchial tubes of people with chronic bronchitis may also have been irritated initially by bacterial or viral infections. Air pollution and industrial dusts also cause chronic bronchitis. Chronic bronchitis can result from numerous bouts of acute bronchitis, but a healthy immune system should eventually help prevent infections also. The kids probably will have fewer infections as they get older. 882-7000 to make an appointment with a University of Missouri Health Sciences Center physician.