The phrase "persistent coughing" is correct and can be used in written English.
You can use it when referring to a continuous, repetitive action. For example, "The patient was experiencing persistent coughing caused by the cold."
[Poughkeepsie Journal] Back home in Zuccotti Park, though, the weekend was relatively quiet, persistent coughing notwithstanding.
Transport operators were ordered to screen out passengers showing possible signs of SARS, such as fever and persistent coughing.
B10 AILING FIREFIGHTERS -- At least 4,000 firefighters who have worked at ground zero are being treated for persistent coughing and chest pain.
At least 4,000 firefighters who have worked at ground zero are being treated for persistent coughing and chest pain, a problem the city's Fire Department has labeled World Trade Center cough.
At a news conference yesterday, the fire commissioner, Thomas Von Essen, said that about 20percentt of the firefighters had persistent coughing from dust at the site, which was made up of large particulate matter, perhaps from pulverized concrete.
The airborne bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis causes persistent coughing (that further spreads the disease), mucus, fever, and flulike symptoms.
None occurred, though in the nervous atmosphere every groan or persistent cough felt like a protest.
Last year Ms. Fabian developed a persistent cough for which she was prescribed antibiotics.
For asthma or emphysema sufferers is there a wheeze or a persistent cough?
A persistent cough sent an "alarm call", leading to x-rays and CT scans.
He even, rather repressively, berates his own persistent cough as "attention-seeking".
