In terms of the current level of medical development, colds are no longer a serious illness and do not cause panic. However, if not treated properly, they can still cause great harm to health, especially when infants get sick. So why does a baby's nose turn from clear to thick and cough?
The change in nasal mucus in infants after illness is an external reaction to the progression of the disease. The process of turning mucus from clear to thick is the expulsion of pathogen debris and white blood cells. After a baby falls ill, the immune system in the body will work, and the white blood cells responsible for defense will actively search for and attack pathogens. After killing these pathogens, some white blood cells will be excreted from the body together.
In the early stages of a cold, a baby's nasal mucus is watery and often flows out of their nose. After catching a cold, the body needs to use mucus to flush away pathogens from the nasal cavity for cleaning and defense purposes. To achieve this goal, the nasal mucosa will actively congested and stimulate the secretion of more mucus.
After two or three days of catching a cold, the mucus becomes thick and white, which is due to the inflammation of the respiratory tract and the onset of other symptoms of the cold. If it is a viral cold, the body temperature will begin to return to normal, but if it is a bacterial cold, the body temperature will not improve.
In the later stages of a cold, nasal mucus will become thick and present a yellow green color. This is the result of the struggle between white blood cells and pathogens mentioned above.
