What Causes Severe Cough, Excessive Mucus In The Throat And Breathing Difficulty?

My family is experiencing a respiratory illness of sorts. It started with my 16 year old. He had only one symptom, a severe cough with extreme mucus sufficiently severe that we thought of going to urgent care. Such so that we thought he was having an asthma attack. He got better over 4 weeks but still has an occasional cough with phlegm. About two weeks later I got it where I got the same cough but severe enough that i could not pull in air fell to my knees. My other son began to call 911 because i could only pull air in as though I was breathing through a straw. Only symptom was this cough with severe mucus. It happened twice after that so I ended up seeing a doctor who prescribed prednesone and albuterol inhaler. That helped a little but it s been 3 solid weeks where I have coughing fits and spit up dixie cups worth of mucus. It has reduced sufficiently that I do not gasp but it still scares me. Now my wife just started having the same symptoms. Only symptoms are cough, severe mucus and debilitating air restriction upon coughing. Other wise general well feeling. Very low grade temp (99). I see this is contagious and long lasting. Is there some illness out there that is going around like this. I ve never had a respitary illness that restricted my airflow like this enough to call 911.