Flu Season in the Hospital
Survival Guide for the Common Cold
When to Call a Doctor about Your Child's Cold
Reduce Your Risk: Wash Your Hands
Flu Shot Facts
What You Should Know about Whooping Cough
History of Influenza
Every parent knows the tell-tale signs of the first winter cold. For young children, six episodes a year are common and often spread to every member of the family. Despite their discomfort, sneezing, a runny nose and a slight fever of 101F or less are no cause for alarm.
Experts advise parents to keep a 24-hour record of symptoms and describe them accurately to their physician. Unless the child's cold has advanced into something more serious, however, don't expect your pediatrician to dispense antibiotics this season "just in case."
New guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and the American Academy of Pediatrics encourage physicians to prescribe antibiotics with more caution. They recommend prescribing antibiotics only when a bacterial infection is strongly suspected.
An estimated 50 million prescriptions for unnecessary antibiotics are written each year. Patients want a quick fix and doctors want to do something to make people feel better. The trouble is: antibiotics not only don't have any effect on a viral cold, they can be dangerous. These drugs wipe out all sensitive bacteria, leaving behind superstrains that are resistant to drugs.
Parents with sick children won't be left out in the cold however. Advice for comfort care and effective over-the-counter medications can help parent and child weather a cold-and there's always chicken soup.
A few tried-but-true recommendations