Acute illnesses have a discreet beginning & end, and are over in 6 months or (usually much) less.
As parents, few things are
more concerning to us than when our children fall ill. Most children get sick more
frequently but less severely than adults. This is because they do not yet have immunity to
the many germs waiting to infect them in our environment, yet their young bodies are in
many ways stronger than ours and much more resilient. The average child will have from 3
to 5 acute illnesses per year. Fortunately most of these are harmless, mild, and will
resolve by themselves without any need for specific medical treatment. The purpose of this
pamphlet is to offer some strategies for dealing with symptoms at their onset, and some
guidelines for deciding when to seek medical help.
In general there are
certain signs you should watch for during ANY illness as indicators that it is mild or
benign and does not need medical attention. These include:
alertness
& orientation
(the child is aware of what's going on
around him);
good
fluid intake
(although appetite for solids
may be poor);
no difficulty breathing
(despite any possible cough -
see below);
absence
of localized pain
(e.g. earache, sore throat,
tender abdomen, stiff neck, other persistent pain in a particular area);
responsiveness
to fever reduction
(not so much that the fever
comes down, but that your child is feeling and acting better when it does - see below);
prompt
resolution
(symptoms start to improve
within 3-4 days and are gone within 6-7 days)
Usually a child who meets
all these criteria has a virus. Viruses are the most common type of germ. They infect you, but in contrast to other
kinds of infection (bacterial, fungal, parasitic) they generally are not dangerous, do not
respond to antibiotics, and require no specific therapy to get better.
Remember that during any
illness, mild or severe, the body's own immune system is doing much of the work towards recovery. It's role is ALWAYS more
important than any medicine we might give. Therefore, you should help it by making sure
your sick child is getting more rest than usual, plenty of fluids, a good diet, and is protected from anxiety or other emotional stress. These measures will ensure a return to normal as soon as
possible. |
