Safest Way To Fight Colds And Flu? Ditch The OTC Meds

Main Category: Flu / Cold / SARS
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 28 Oct 2007 - 0:00 PDT

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The recent withdrawal of over-the-counter cold medicines for children under 2 leaves many pediatricians and parents relieved, but the question remains: What should distressed parents do when their baby is sick on the eve of yet another flu season?

"First and foremost, we want parents to know that no matter what, most viral infections will get better in three to five days and go away completely within two weeks," says Dennis Kuo, M.D. M.H.S., a pediatrician at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. "The second thing they need to remember is fluids, fluids, fluids."

Hopkins Children's doctors offer the following advice to parents:

-- Give your child plenty of fluids.

-- Avoid giving straight water to children under 6 months because their kidneys are not mature enough to handle too much water.

-- To help relieve congestion, use saline nasal drops up to four times a day and a cool-mist humidifier at night.

-- Use baby acetaminophen to relieve high fever in infants older than 3 months.

-- Use children's ibuprofen to take down high fever in children over 6 months. Typically, a temperature over 101 is considered a high fever, but tolerance varies from child to child. Follow your gut on this one.

-- Don't over-wrap a feverish infant and don't cover the face and head. Over-wrapping prevents proper cooling.

Call a pediatrician if:

-- Your child is younger than 3 months and has a fever over 100.4 when taken rectally.

-- Your child over 3 months has a fever higher than 104 when taken rectally.

-- Your child hasn't had a wet diaper in six hours, a sign of dehydration. Other signs of dehydration include dry mouth, fussiness and producing few or no tears when crying.

-- Your child's symptoms don't improve in three to five days.

-- Your child is lethargic, particularly with NO fever present.

-- Your child is unusually cranky and does not calm down when picked up and held.

-- Your child's breathing is rapid or labored.

-- Your child refuses to drink.

"If a baby refuses to drink, your alarms should go off because it may mean that she is having trouble breathing." Kuo says. "If a child is forced to choose between breathing and drinking, breathing comes first."

Last but not least, doctors recommend a flu shot for children 6 months and older. To protect those younger than 6 months, all family members should get vaccinated against the flu.

Remember, antibiotics don't treat viral infections, such as the flu or common cold, only bacterial ones, such as strep throat, sinus and ear infections, and bacterial pneumonia. However, a viral infection makes a child more susceptible to bacterial invaders, so see your pediatrician if your child's symptoms don't improve after a week.

Infant cold and cough medicines were taken off drugstore shelves recently amid growing concern over adverse effects caused by overdoses in children younger than 2 years. A Baltimore group led by Hopkins Children's pediatricians spearheaded the original effort to alert consumers and push the Food and Drug Administration to ban the marketing of such medicines for children under 6.

Founded in 1912 as the children's hospital of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, the Johns Hopkins Children's Center offers one of the most comprehensive pediatric medical programs in the country, treating more than 90,000 children each year. U.S. News & World Report ranks Hopkins Children's among the top three children's hospitals in the nation. Hopkins Children's is Maryland's only state-designated Trauma Service and Burn Unit for pediatric patients. It has recognized Centers of Excellence in 20 pediatric subspecialties including cardiology, transplant, psychiatric illnesses and genetic disorders. For more information, please visit http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org

Johns Hopkins Medicine
901 S. Bond St., Ste 550
Baltimore, MD 21231
United States
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org