How can we treat Common Cold and Cough in Kids during Monsoon | Dr Srikanth B. S

Описание: Back to school! Onset of monsoons! Colds and coughs have become a common scenario in most of our kids!

What is this common cold?
This is a viral infection caused by more than two hundred types of viruses Rhino virus being the most predominant. It is a contagious disease as it spreads from one person to another usually by sneezing or coughing: we call it a droplet infection. The small droplets settle on the surfaces and when someone comes in contact with that, and he touches his nose and mouth it can cause infection these viruses enter thorough mucosa in the nose and into the throat and they cause the immune reaction in the body which makes the child have symptoms of cold and cough.

What are the common symptoms of this disease?
Child usually has a runny nose, stuffy nose, sneezing, develops cough, develop fever body ache, headache. Child has generalized distress with loss of appetite. The child not eating well put the whole family into distress.

How long does this disease last?
Usually it is two to three days from the time child comes in contact with a person with cold, the symptoms start. Symptoms worsen usually by day five it usually lasts for a week, sometimes it can go up to ten days.

Usually a child will be very infective to the other children between the second to fourth day.

How can we treat this condition?
Common cold doesn't have any specific treatment, time cures all this very well applies to treatment of common cold. But we do give medications to ease the distressing symptoms of common cold, so we would recommend home remedies especially especially hot water with honey, some plain water steam inhalations, nasal saline drops to clear the stuffy nose, you could use Paracetamol to alleviate symptoms like fever and body ache in children.

Diet: we don't have any restriction in diet but giving warm food hot food usually suits the child, warm soups, warm milk with turmeric may help, and few home remedies do help in allevating the symptoms of Common Cold.
How can we prevent common cold symptoms?
Hygiene matters so cleaning hands before touching the nose and mouth, or making the child with a cold to sneeze into a tissue, or making the child sneeze into his elbow rather than to his hands will help in preventing the spread of infection, Also staying away from a person with cold and when it comes to infants babies who are fed by the mother to his hands will help in preventing the spread of infection. She could just cover her nose and mouth when she is in close contact with the baby she can use a hand sanitizer every time she touches her baby.

Danger signs: When to meet your doctor?
All common colds are not serious! when a child has a fever of more than 103 degree Fahrenheit persisting for more than a day, or you feel child has earache or discharge from the ear, or the child is vomiting out a lot of phlegm which is thick or child is persistent vomiting that is making the child have dehydration these are the times when you need to meet the doctor
Myths about Common Cold people think: not wearing a sweater in the cold season, or not just stuffing cotton into their ears will make them get cold or having a cold wet hair will make them get cold, but however these don't have any scientific basis. Common cold are because of viruses. Using the chicken soup is going to cure of common cold; No. Ofcourse, there are somethings that diet contains which makes mucus thin and go out of the body but there again not much of a scientific data for this. Whether drinking milk will worsen my cold: usually not milk can make mucus thick but it will usually not worsen the scenario of Cold.so common cold nothing to be scared off but it needs attention and as I said if it worsens then you need to meet your doctor..