As a pediatrician today we see more and more children with common problems invoicing respiratory tract. We see loads of children with recurrent cold and cough. This is very distressing to most parents. We see many parents saying the child had a cold and cough, the child got better, and he has again got a cold and cough, so why is this happening? Most of these infections are because of viruses. You see loads of virus with the respiratory synctial virus, the rhinovirus, the metapneumovirus, the influenza virus and there are loads of virus that causes cold and cough. Most of these children today are in day care centers or in playschools where they infect each other and that is the reason why they get these common cold and coughs, the message I would like to give to these parents is that on should not be really perturbed or upset with children getting cold ad coughs because these are minor viral illnesses, and one can easily treat them symptomatically with some paracetamol and antihistaminics, if the child is having discomfort, too much of a runny nose or a cough. It is also important to underrated that these infection should not be tweeted with antibiotics the only indication for antibiotics for a child with recurrent cold and cough is if the infection gets into the ear and the child has ear pain or sometimes it gets into the chest and it is like a pneumonia and the child has a high fever. Most of these kids will be managed with symptomatic medications and though it is recurrent, it is irritating, but it is not of any major or any consequence to cause the parents to worry. Keep the child’s nutrition good. if the child is well nourished, the risk of infection comes down, see that the child is immunized for age. If the child is immunized for age, you would ofcourse avoid serious infection, and avoid very crowded places where the child can get a higher risk of getting these infections. So if you follow these things, most of your children will be well and these common colds and coughs will also reduce and tis will also reduce with age. So it is the first 2 to 3 years were the children get this recurrent colds and coughs. But with time, they also settle down.so dear parents, please don’t worry, I am sure with time most of these children will do extremely well. the only time I would be a little concerned is if the child has a family history of allergy or if there is a family history of asthma. There probably you need to be a little careful. You might require a little more tests to find out if your child is having another problem and it is not just the common viral cold and cough.

свернуть