The media has been talking about it for weeks, but from a patient standpoint, we have only just started to see the flu at North Atlanta Pediatrics. There have been intermittent cases for a month, but it started to pick up last week. It seems to have exploded this week, so for today’s blog, we are discussing five things you need to know about the flu:
1) Do not panic. The news media seems to get everyone riled up about the flu every year, but it is a common and usually passing illness. Although the flu is bad and can warrant medical attention, most kids recover from it within a few days. Make sure they follow their pediatrician’s orders, and everything should be fine.
2) Prevention is still your best strategy. Two things you should do:
- FIRST: Get the flu shot (for your child and you). We still have flu immunizations available if your child has not been vaccinated yet. We do not have enough for parents this year, but we have not heard of any flu-shot shortages in the city. Additionally, Publix is giving a $10 gift card and Target a $5 gift card if you get your flu shot there.
- SECOND: Wash your hands. As pediatricians, we are seeing lots of patients with the flu and are exposed to it constantly. How do we avoid getting it? Washing our hands. Hand sanitizer. This simple prevention method cannot be emphasized enough.
3) Treatment is symptomatic. Treat the fever and help your child stay hydrated. Give appropriate doses of ibuprofen and acetaminophen. We recommend giving ibuprofen every 6 hours on a schedule and using acetaminophen as a touch-up every 4 hours, as needed, on top of the ibuprofen. Once you get the fever to come down, your child will be more likely to drink fluids. At first, keeping your child hydrated is more important than making sure they eat. We recommend easing your child back into eating solid food with popsicles and ice cream if he or she is old enough to eat them. It’s important that you let your child rest.
4) Tamiflu should be used judiciously. We do not use Tamiflu for routine cases of the flu. We follow the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), as well as Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA), and we reserve the use of Tamiflu for high risk patients. Who is high risk? Children under 6 months of age, asthmatics, and people with chronic medical problems or compromised immune systems are among the most vulnerable. Tamiflu shortens the duration of the flu by half a day and perhaps minimizes the symptoms as well. Side effects include gastrointestinal problems (nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea), as well as nightmares in children. We use it if needed, but we do not write it for every case of the flu.
5) Flu shot effectiveness can vary. We do not yet know how effective the flu shot is this season, but we have been seeing cases of the flu in kids who have had their flu shot. However, these cases of the flu have been milder in terms of severity and duration of symptoms.
At North Atlanta Pediatrics, we are here for you and your children. Please contact us right away if you are concerned about your child or you think your child is not recovering from the flu in an expected manner. Be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook for more health information, news, and updates.