What is Chronic Cough?

  • The first World Chronic Cought Day, which will be celebrated each 15 October has been proclaimed.
  • is a persistent cough that happens most days of the week. 1,2
  • lasts four weeks or longer in children and eight weeks or longer in adults. 3

A cough is a good reflex because it protects your lungs from irritants, but it should not be ongoing or constant.

A refractory chronic cough (RCC) is when your doctor can’t find the cause, even after an in-depth exam and treatment. It continues despite treatment.

What Causes Chronic Cough?

  • chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
  • asthma
  • respiratory infections
  • postnasal drip
  • acid reflux
  • heart failure
  • ACE inhibitors (medications given for conditions including high blood pressure and heart failure)
  • tobacco or vape smoke
  • air pollution
  • other airway irritants
  • Less common causes include cancer, pneumonia, and rare lung conditions. 1,2,3

World #ChronicCoughDay 2024

To celebrate the first-ever World Chronic Cough Day (October 1st), GAAPP (Global Allergy & Airways Patient Platform) has compiled a valuable set of tools designed to support patients in understanding and managing their Chronic Cough, from diagnosis through life-long care. Also, we aim for the general public to understand Chronic Cough and encourage them to check with their healthcare professionals if any of the symptoms described could indicate this or any other respiratory condition. These resources aim to empower individuals by providing practical guidance and knowledge.

World Chronic Cough Day Webinar

Educational Flyers

Patient Navigator and Ambassador Program

More information on Chronic Cough


Communication grant for GAAPP Member Organizations

GAAPP has launched its communication grant for World Chronic Cough 2024.

A 200€ grant is offered to help us promote these resources from 8 October to 15 November 2024. The assets are available in English, Portuguese (Brazilian), Slovenian, and Spanish. If you need these assets in another language, please feel free to contact vgascon@gaapp.org, and we will be happy to arrange that for you.

To apply for the grant and obtain the social media assets, please click on the button below:


With generous support from our sponsors:

GSK logo

We want to thank the following organizations for their previous and current work for Chronic Cough that has led to this launch:

Logo_Lovexair

References

  1. Alyn H. Morice, Eva Millqvist, Kristina Bieksiene, Surinder S. Birring, Peter Dicpinigaitis, Christian Domingo Ribas, Michele Hilton Boon, Ahmad Kantar, Kefang Lai, Lorcan McGarvey, David Rigau, Imran Satia, Jacky Smith, woo-jung song, Thomy Tonia, Jan W.K. van den Berg, mirjam j.g. Van Manen and Angela Zacharasiewicz. EUR Respir J 2020; 55: 1901136. European Respiratory Society. November 1, 2020. Accessed March 8, 2024. https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/56/5/1951136
  2. Irwin RS, French CL, Chang AB, Altman KW, CHEST Expert Cough Panel*. Classification of cough as a symptom in adults and management algorithms: Chest guideline and expert panel report. Chest. January 2018. Accessed March 8, 2024. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6689094/
  3. McGarvey LP. Does idiopathic cough exist?. Lung. 2008;186 Suppl 1:S78-S81. doi:10.1007/s00408-007-9048-4 Accessed March 8, 2024. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18008103/.