Assess and classify cough or difficult breathing

Once you have assessed a child for general danger signs, you should ask the mother, 'Does the child have cough or difficult breathing'? If the answer is 'yes', continue with the assessment.

How to classify cough or difficult breathing

There are three possible classifications for a child with cough or difficult breathing:

• Severe pneumonia or very severe disease
• Pneumonia
• No pneumonia, cough or cold.