Flu or Common Cold, How Can You Tell The Difference?
Monday, October 7, 2013 at 9:52AM 
Although vaccination is the best way to prevent the flu, practicing healthy habits can also lend a hand in prevention. For example, washing your children’s hands and asking them to cover their nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing is a good way to avoid spreading germs. Of course it always best to stay away from people who are sick.
Flu vs. Colds
Flu symptoms can vary from child to child – and they can change as the illness progresses. The flu has symptoms that make a child worse than symptoms associated with a common cold. However, it is not that easy to tell the difference between the two. To help decide whether your child is fighting the flu or a cold, ask yourself these questions about your child’s symptoms.
What to do if my child has the flu?
Unlike other infections, the flu does not always require treatment. But it is always best to make an appointment with one of our providers since the illness can become complicated if your child is running a fever and/or dehydrated.
Providers may prescribe an antiviral medicine, but in reality, these medicine usually only shorten the course of the infection by just 1 or 2 days-provided your child’s illness is reported at an early stage.
Here are a few helpful tips one can do to help your child feel better should he or she come down with the flu.
- Offer plenty of fluids. Try ice pops, icy drinks and soft fruits should your child get tired of drinking water.
- Encourage bed rest.
- Acetaminophens (such as Tylenol) and ibuprofens (such as Advil or Motrin) tend to relieve aches and pains. Do not give aspirin.
- It is important to continue encouraging healthy habits by washing you and your family’s hands thoroughly and often.
- Keep them home from work or school. You will help prevent others from catching their illness.
Common Colds
Common cold symptoms may include sore throat, headache, mild fever, aches and loss of appetite.
Unfortunately, no effective cold vaccine has ever been developed, so it is not easy to prevent. But much like the flu, practicing healthy habits can go a long way.
Some people believe that kids may be more vulnerable to colds if they do not eat nutritious meals; they are stressed or tired; if they are exposed to cold or wet weather, but there is little evidence to support these beliefs.
Treatment for the common cold is “time.”
There isn’t much one can do. However you should make an appointment with our office if there is:
- Increased throat pain
- Coughing which produces green or gray sputum or lasts more than 10 days.
- Fever lasting several days or over 101F.
- If the child has shaking chills, chest pain or shortness of breath
- Difficulty swallowing, poor intake of fluids.
- Pain in the ear, unusual lethargy, enlarged, tender glands in the neck
- Blue lips, skin or fingernails.
Reader Comments (1)
So called common cold and flu are the most common diseases in the autumn- winter season. Apart from being purely a health issue - they are often confused with each other , as many of their symptoms are the same, their importance is growing more and socially. In many countries, statistics show that 70% of the temporary incapacity of the working age population was due to these seemingly harmless diseases. The tools which are used for their treatment are generally higher than those for the treatment of diabetes, for example. These diseases are not only widespread, but also costly to society, so their prevention and treatment are paying more attention.