Posted by: drmolly in illness, allergies on
Sep 01, 2010
The last couple of weeks, I saw a big uptick in questions about sneezing, runny noses and coughing. Parents weren't sure if their kids were experiencing allergy symptoms or had a summer cold. Here are some clues to help figure this out:
Fever. If your child has a fever over 100.5 degrees this is most likely an illness. Allergies shouldn't cause fever; illness can.
Sneezing. If sneezing occurs once or twice it could be due to either allergies or a
There is a wicked bug going around, so I thought it was a good time to answer questions about vomiting, diarrhea, dehydrations and all that good stuff.
Q: My child has vomited five times in the last two hours. What's going on?!
A: Chances are your child has the stomach flu. Stomach flu is a general term for infections (usually viral) that cause a sudden onset of profuse vomiting and sometimes fever usually accompanied by diarrhea within 24
Over the last month, the number of kids I've seen in the office with flu-like symptoms has decreased dramatically. What a relief for families! The downside is that parents now feel blase about getting their kids under 10 the second H1N1 vaccine, a necessary step to ensure immunity.
Most parents aren't even asking me, they are just deciding to forgo the second shot. The few who are asking are reluctant to get it given the fact that the illness
Iinfluenza has really started to hit our area hard. The following Q&A will help you understand who needs to be seen, when testing should be done and who needs Tamiflu treatment:
Q: When do I suspect my child has influenza? What are the symptoms?
A: Fever higher than 101.5 degrees along with sore throat and body aches is the first sign followed by headache, congestion and cough. The kids look very sick, down and out and are not interested in
It's 2 a.m. and your 4-year-old climbs into bed with you, squirming and irritated. He doesn't feel like he has a fever and hasn't had a bad dream and yet he can't seem to stop moving around. Exhausted yourself, you get frustrated with his constant movement and walk him back to his own bed for the night. As you pass by the bathroom with the nightlight on you notice something odd: your child has spots - everywhere! Quickly you turn on the big
In my office I have had a lot of families very willing and eager to have their kids get the seasonal flu vaccine but questions and concerns linger about the safety of the H1N1 vaccine (aka swine flu) and whether it is really necessary given the mild nature of this strain of influenza thus far. There is a lot of misinformation and fear-mongering about this year's vaccine and I hope to set the record straight.
Q: I've heard this swine flu
Wondering when to take your sick child to see her doctor and what kind of treatment to expect? Here are a few cases of flu-like illnesses and how they turned out.
Case 1
Otherwise healthy 8-year-old came in with a one-day history of fever up to 104 degrees, mild headache, head congestion, cough, fatigue and body aches. Dad is concerned this may be the swine flu and wants him assessed. This child's exam is consistent with a flu-like illness
We all know that the H1N1 virus is ramping up. School is back in session and kids clustered together means germs spread. Parents (and teachers) are worried about this novel virus and as such the phone calls and e-mails to my office are on the rise. The challenge is that many illnesses with fever will not be H1N1 influenza - so how is a parent to know? Here are some tips:
H1N1 influenza, commonly known as the swine flu, presents most often
I get a lot of questions about shingles and whether or not exposure to a person with them is problematic. Here are the common questions and answers:
Q: What is shingles?
A: Shingles is a painful, stinging and itchy, red blister-like rash in a specific area that corresponds to a nerve in the body.
Q: What causes it?
A: Once you have been exposed to the chicken pox virus (either though having the illness or getting the vaccine) the virus
In the late summer and early fall mosquitoes are abundant and so are those pesky, itchy bug bites. But sometimes the bug bites can cause severe illness, too.
Even in a dry summer like the one we have had, millions of mosquitoes emerge each evening around dusk and each morning near dawn to feast on the animals and people out and about. Mosquitoes are indiscriminate feeders and will bite anything with blood flowing. Sometimes, these bitten
