5 Common Reasons Why Children Visit the Doctor
posted by The Live Better Team | July 21, 2016
The common cold is one of the most frequent reasons children miss school. It’s normal for a child to have eight or more colds a year because more than 200 viruses can cause the common cold, and young children lack the immunity to resist them. Rhinovirus is the most common type of virus that causes colds. Antibiotics don’t work against these viruses, nor do they help your child feel better when suffering with a cold.
Children often experience fever, aches, stuffy nose and a sore throat during a common cold. Symptoms usually peak within two to three days but can last for up to two weeks. If your child is eating, drinking, and breathing normally and is not wheezing, a cough should not alarm you. You can relieve the symptoms by:
Increasing fluids
Administering children’s ibuprofen or acetaminophen to help reduce the fever
Using saline drops or spray to moisturize your child’s nasal passageways
If your child has a bad cough that won’t go away, is breathless, wheezing or has a high temperature, call your doctor. A chest infection caused by bacteria may be the reason, in which case antibiotics will be prescribed to clear up the infection. Breathlessness can also indicate asthma, so it’s important to monitor your child and stay in touch with your family doctor.
It’s easy for children to get the highly contagious pink eye from bacteria or viruses because they are in close contact with so many other children, and good hygiene is often lacking. Direct contact with an infected child’s secretions, usually through hand-to-eye contact, is the most common way bacterial conjunctivitis is spread. Your child’s eye will be red with a lot of pus. Your doctor will usually prescribe antibiotic eyedrops to treat the infection.
Bacterial conjunctivitis can spread very quickly through your home, so make sure your child washes his or her hands regularly, avoids touching the eyes, and does not share bedding or linens with anyone else. Keep your child out of school for at least 24 hours after treatment begins.
Viral conjunctivitis is also very contagious and is caused by the same virus responsible for the common cold. You’ll notice a watery mucus discharge from your child’s eye. The pink eye symptoms usually last for up to two weeks and then disappear on their own, although severe cases can last even longer. Antibiotic eye drops do not cure viral conjunctivitis.
Allergic conjunctivitis is not contagious and is caused by an allergen in the environment that is irritating your child’s eye. The main symptom is itching. Applying cool compresses to the eyes and using anti-allergy eye drops are helpful.
Painful or difficult swallowing
Excessive drooling
A rash
Pus or red and white patches in the back of the throat
Tender or swollen glands (lymph nodes) in the neck
Red and enlarged tonsils
Fever over 100.4 degrees, headache
Loss of appetite and nausea
Your doctor will prescribe a course of antibiotics to treat your child’s strep throat, and your child will no longer be contagious within forty-eight hours after beginning treatment. Be sure to consult with your child’s school about the return-to-class policy, and keep him or her comfortable with fluids, popsicles, salt-water gargles, ibuprofen and bed rest.
This common infection in the intestines causes vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain ranging from mild to severe. Many children have more than one episode in a year. A variety of viruses, parasites and bacteria that are easily spread in schools and day-care centers, including norovirus, can cause gastroenteritis.
Most stomach viruses clear up within a few days to a week, and the main concern is preventing dehydration. Encourage your child to drink fluids in small, frequent amounts. If your child can’t keep down sips of liquids and begins to show signs of severe dehydration such as lethargy or no urine for six hours or more, contact your family doctor immediately. If the dehydration is severe, your child may need intravenous fluids.
Depending on what is causing the vomiting, your doctor might prescribe drugs to treat the nausea and vomiting or use antiparasitic drugs for a parasitic infection. Because food poisoning is responsible for some cases of gastroenteritis, it’s important to brush up on your safe-food-handling protocol, especially in the summer.
This information is not intended to replace the advice of a medical professional. You should always consult your doctor before making decisions about your health.