There are a ton of kids right now with pneumonia. Get him a chest Xray. I don't know why... it is a little scary

My kid had pneumonia last spring and ended up with a rescue inhaler (albuterol) because she was having trouble breathing during spring sports (either do to some longer-lasting effects of the pneumonia, spring allergies, or exercise-induced asthma, time will tell which it was).

I'm so sorry that happened to your kid, OP, the fear from not being able to breathe is profound and scarring. If your kid has asthma, he had a genetic predisposition to it, and it was bound to show up sooner or later - it's not anything he "did". We're an asthmatic family.

However your description is not clear as to whether this is a passing lung infection with asthmatic symptoms, or whether this is asthma. Please clear this up with your pediatrician. He might need a prescription for a rescue (short-acting) inhaler, and a long-acting inhaler.

It's not uncommon, OP.

Were his lungs clear? The doctor should have listened for this.

If so, then it’s probably not a lung infection. These secondary infections are very persistent now.

Croup?

More resources , if it turns out your child does have asthma:

https://www.lung.org/lung-health-diseases/lung-disease-lookup/asthma/managing-asthma/children-and-asthma

It does not sound like you were told he has a lung infection (asthma is not a lung infection).

I am sorry you guys have been having this stress.

That must have been frightening. It might help your child to learn relaxation techniques in case this happens again (or he fears that it will).

Perhaps the American Lung Association’s website in will have information about childhood asthma?

Here is another reliable source of information:

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/allergies-asthma/Pages/Diagnosing-Asthma.aspx?

You need to figure out if your child has asthma, because if he does you need a plan for managing it. Good luck!

PS. If prescribed an inhaler get the “spacer” too. It helps them breathe in the meds better.

My child was dx with asthma a few years ago when he was very sick. As a result we are very proactive with meds…daily allergy pills plus Flonase if he gets a cold. He also uses an inhaler when he’s sick and has wheezing or a cough that won’t subside (cough variant asthma). However, unless he’s sick he’s absolutely fine and it doesn’t cause any other issues for him.

PP again. My kids are now tweens and do not have asthma, so your son might not develop it just from this, but it’s something to watch for.

This is very stressful but both of my kids had this as toddlers, almost every time they caught a cold. The prednisone should clear it up very quickly.

He probably has post-covid complications. Anyone is at risk. I am so sorry that your child thought he was going to die - that must have been very scary!

This can happen after many covid infections, to anyone.

My 8 year old has had a cold since around August 10th. It wouldn't let up, the runny nose and an infrequent cough. A few days ago I took him to the doc they said he had a sinus infection and put him on amoxicillin. Today the school called me and said he couldn't breathe, so I picked him up and he was panicking saying there was stuff in his throat and he couldn't breathe and he thought he was going to die. I took him to the doc and they said he was wheezing, did a breathing treatment, gave prednisone and a different antibiotic for what they said was an ear infection and reactive airway disease.
Just wondering if anyone has been through this or what kind of diagnosis this is. Does he have asthma from a cold now? She said lungs take a while to heal, like 6 months, and I'm very stressed about it.