American Medical Association Family Medical Guide - American Medical Association [198]
In some babies, the symptoms of a more serious infection, such as an ear infection (see page 417), bronchiolitis (see previous page), or pneumonia (see page 660), mimic the symptoms of a cold. The baby may be restless, cry persistently, and refuse to eat. He or she may have a high fever (about 102°F), and his or her skin may feel hot to the touch. The baby may be persistently hoarse and have a dry cough. If your baby has these symptoms, see your doctor.
The doctor will ask about your child’s symptoms and examine his or her throat to see if the tonsils are inflamed. Tonsillitis or enlarged adenoids can lead to breathing difficulties. If your child has been wheezing or grunting, the doctor may suspect asthma or a lung infection. The doctor will examine your child’s chest to see if the cold is developing into a more serious disorder such as pneumonia or bronchiolitis.
Because a respiratory infection can travel through the eustachian tube to the middle ear cavity and cause a middle ear infection (see page 417), the doctor will examine your child’s ears with a lighted viewing instrument called an otoscope. If an ear infection is not treated promptly, it can lead to a ruptured eardrum (see page 1022); chronic ear infections may result in hearing loss.
If Your Child Has a Cold
In some cases, a child with a cold will cough a lot during the night, often because the bedroom is too hot or too cold and the air is irritating his or her throat. Adjusting the room’s temperature or humidity may solve the problem.
Infants with colds may have trouble eating, which is not a cause for concern if the problem lasts no more than a few days. You can help restore your baby’s appetite by clearing the mucus from his or her nose with a small bulb syringe (available at most drugstores) and using nonprescription saline nose drops.
Try giving an older child liquids before bed to help clear the back of the nasal passage. Wash your face and hands and your child’s face and hands frequently to avoid spreading the infection.
In severe cases of bronchiolitis, a child may need to be hospitalized for a few days to receive supplemental oxygen, intravenous fluids to relieve dehydration, and bronchodilator drugs to open the airways. The doctor may prescribe antibiotics to treat any secondary bacterial infection that has developed, such as pneumonia. If a child has severe difficulty breathing, he or she may be put on a ventilator (an artificial breathing machine) until his or her breathing returns to normal. With prompt treatment, the infection usually clears up within a few days and leaves no lasting effects. However, some affected children continue to develop wheezing whenever they have respiratory infections up to about age 5 or 6.
Blood Disorders
Blood disorders can vary greatly in their effects. Because the symptoms are so varied and are often mild at first, these disorders can sometimes go undetected. For a child with iron deficiency anemia or allergic purpura, a delayed diagnosis is not likely to cause any permanent effects.
Types of blood cells
Red blood cells are doughnut-shaped cells that carry oxygen from the lungs to tissues throughout the body, where the oxygen is exchanged for carbon dioxide. White blood cells protect the body against infection and fight infection. White blood cells are bigger than red blood cells but not as numerous. Platelets are fragments of blood cells that play an important part in blood clotting.
Allergic Purpura
Allergic purpura (also called anaphylactoid purpura or Henoch-Schoenlein purpura) is an allergic reaction of unknown cause that produces a rash just beneath the surface of the skin. The rash is thought to result from an abnormal reaction between antibodies (infection-fighting proteins) and blood vessels, causing the blood vessels to become inflamed or to burst. In some cases, the