How common are lung nodules? is it common for a nonsmoker to have 3 pulmonary nodules with no current illness symptoms except a cough?

Where do you live?: In areas where histoplasmosis is a common nuisance illness, almost everybody has a few

Fairly common: If you took 100 people at random off the street and did a CT scan of their chest, 25 of them would have nodules. Non-smokers can have nodules. Most nodules do no cause any symptoms at all and you would never know they are there unless you had a chest CT for some reason (or abdominal CT and it was picked up on the lower lung fields)