Frequently, these children have a stuffy nose, chronic drainage from the nose or down the throat, bad breath, and often a persistent cough. Chronic sinusitis may require prolonged medical therapy. In rare cases of medical failure, procedures to drain the sinuses may be required. The diagnosis of childhood sinusitis is difficult. A child's symptoms often are not much different from a common cold.
Testing can also be equivocal.
Cultures of the nose can be misleading as he bacteria obtained from the front of the nose are usually different from those infecting the sinus. The character of nasal drainage may also be misleading. Clear drainage is most commonly associated with allergy, but can occur with viral or bacterial infection. If the mucus dries out, it will not only be thicker, but may turn white, yellow, or green, regardless of cause. There doesn't seem to be a reliable way to determine the cause of nasal drainage simply by its color.