Bronchiolitis - What are the symptoms?

Your child may have only mild symptoms like a heavy cold and wheezy cough. But some children have more serious difficulties breathing. If a child's skin looks bluish it means they are not getting enough oxygen. This is an emergency.

Your child may have symptoms of a cold for the first two or three days, with a runny nose, cough and mild fever. But if the infection reaches the bronchioles, the child may have problems breathing.

Most babies with bronchiolitis get only mild symptoms, but some have difficulty breathing. Your child may have some of these symptoms:[1]

Fast breathing
Wheezing and a worsening cough
Flaring nostrils
Crackly sounding chest
Muscles between the ribs sucked in as each breath takes more effort than normal
Difficulty breathing
Spells of stopping breathing.

You should see a doctor straight away if your baby has any of these symptoms. You should also see your doctor if your baby is too breathless to feed, or is coughing too much to feed. Some babies who are not feeding become dehydrated and need to go to hospital.

Your doctor will probably listen with a stethoscope for wheezing and crackling sounds in your baby's chest. Other tests aren't usually needed. But occasionally doctors may do one or more of the following:[2]

Take samples of fluid from your baby's nose to examine in a laboratory. This test can find out what virus is causing the illness.
An X-ray of your baby's chest to check if there are any other problems.
A blood test to find out if your baby has low levels of oxygen. Doctors don't do this often.

References

Juan Manuel Lozano. Bronchiolitis. October 2007. Clinical evidence. (Based on October 2006 search). Available at http://clinicalevidence.bmj.com/ceweb/conditions/chd/0308/0308.jsp (accessed on 12 November 2007).
U.S. National Library of Medicine. Medline Plus: bronchiolitis. November 2005. Available at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000975.htm (accessed on 12 November 2007).

This information does not replace medical advice. If you are concerned you might have a medical problem please ask your Boots pharmacy team in your local Boots store, or see your doctor.