Chronic cough, asthma and allergy.

The medical approach of chronic cough suffers from the lack of a standardis ed definition. The most frequently encountered criterion is a recurrent cou gh observed during several consecutive months, each episode lasting at leas t 1 week. The link between recurrent cough and asthma is still discussed. C ough-related asthma diagnosis is facilitated when wheezing is clearly confi rmed, or may be reminded by a nonproductive middle night cough, or an exerc ise-triggered cough, or the presence of personal or familial atopy Converse ly, an early morning and productive cough associated with tobacco exposure do not suggest asthma. (C) 2001 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevie r SAS.