At present, the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic is also the season of high incidence of influenza in children.
If your child has a cough and fever, how can you tell the difference between influenza, the common cold or the new crown pneumonia?
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1. How to distinguish between the flu, the common cold and COVID-19
Symptoms of coughing and fever are common in babies, but parents can learn more by looking closely.
The common cold usually has symptoms of nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing, and may have a fever. However, it is generally a low-to-moderate fever, which lasts for 1 to 2 days, and basically heals itself in 3 to 5 days. Colds rarely have systemic symptoms of generalized muscle pain or fatigue.
Influenza often has high fever, the heat range is relatively long, generally 3 to 5 days, about a week or so to get better. Influenza is also often accompanied by systemic symptoms, including systemic muscle pain, fatigue, headaches, and severe influenza can have serious complications, especially in young children.
The main symptoms of confirmed cases of new crown pneumonia include fever, cough, fatigue, and may also have symptoms such as vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, etc., and some patients may also have loss of smell and taste.
Parents are urged to provide a truthful medical history when taking their children to the hospital to help doctors diagnose faster and more accurately.
2. What if your child does not want to wear a mask
Children under 1 year old are not suitable for wearing masks, and younger children cannot wear masks, what should I do? For this type of child, the main thing is passive protection. The so-called passive protection is to rely on the protection of parents, family members, and caregivers to indirectly protect children.
First, caregivers themselves should wear masks and lead by example.
Second, don't sneeze at your child. When coughing and sneezing, don't forget to cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or elbow.
The clothing for the baby should be appropriate, do not feel that it is winter to cover it hard, but it is not recommended that some parents exercise the child's ability to withstand cold, and the result is that the child gets cold and gets sick.
For older children, we can tell children directly why we wear masks through storytelling or reasoning. As a parent, you must lead by example, your child should wear a mask, and you should wear a mask yourself.
Finally, parents are reminded that if they find that they have respiratory infections, including colds or some other symptoms, they must wear masks and do appropriate home isolation.
Source | Chinese Youth Client, Healthy China