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Health & Wellness > Ask
The Doc
Ask the Doc
By Dr. David Belloso
Families on-the-go is pleased to introduce “Ask the Doc”, a regular column
dedicated to answering readers’ most pressing questions about pediatric health.
We’ll kick off the column by asking our board certified pediatrician one of
parents’ most frequent questions:
“How do we know when a cold is just a cold, or when it’s the dreaded flu?”
Answer: Similar symptoms can exist with both the common cold and the flu, so
deciphering which is affecting your child can be confusing. Fever, sore throat,
coughing, congestion and runny nose are all symptoms common to both the flu and
most colds.
When suffering from a cold, most children will have some combination of these
symptoms. Parents may recognize either green or clear nasal discharge, coughing
or sneezing, and the child may feel warm or have a mild temperature. It is also
not unusual to have a decreased appetite that may last for days. Parents should
take note of the timing and severity of these symptoms and document the
temperature of any fever.
Signs and symptoms more attributable to the flu include the abrupt onset of a
high fever (102 degrees or greater), watery eyes, severe headache (sometimes
described as “behind the eye sockets”), and generalized muscle aches (most
commonly in the legs, shoulders, arms, back and neck). Shaking chills, while
common to both colds and flu, suggest a sharp rise in temperature that more
often results from flu infection.
In most cases, children can be treated at home with supportive care aimed at
managing the fever with acetaminophen or ibuprofen and maintaining adequate
fluid intake. In older children, an over the counter cold medicine may help ease
respiratory symptoms. As both colds and flu are viral illnesses, antibiotics are
of no value in their treatment. Symptoms that merit a call to the doctor include
severe headache or neck pain or stiffness, inadequate fluid intake, severe
vomiting, breathing difficulties or blood-tinged phlegm. With either colds or
flu, patients are contagious and therefore school or daycare attendance should
be limited until the symptoms resolve.
Although tests are available at most doctor’s offices to diagnose the flu, it is
much more important to pay close attention to your child. A severe cold has the
potential to make children feel as miserable as a case of the flu. The good news
is that in healthy children a full recovery can be expected in either case,
usually within a week.
Dr. David Belloso is a board certified pediatrician at After Hours Pediatrics
Urgent Care (www.afterhourspediatrics.com).
If you'd like to submit a question to be answered in the next issue of Families
on-the-go, please email your question to info@afterhourspediatrics.com.
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