What Will Pediatricians Do During the Next Three Months Tell Us About Infectious Diseases and Their Implications for their Children and Families?

As we navigate the next few months, pediatricians will do what we’ve always done: We will show up for our patients and their families. We will diagnose and treat these viruses, reassure worried parents and support the mental health of children and teens. We are in need of help. We must use this moment to make rapid investments and to set the stage for broader reforms.

“This season is truly unprecedented,” says Katelyn Jetelina, who writes Your Local Epidemiologist, a newsletter about infectious disease spread. The high rates of flu-like illness could be an early peak, or an early warning of a monumentally bad season. She says that it’s not a good idea to know how high it will go and how severe it will be. We are at the mercy of time.

Respiratory syncytial infections in young infants can be a problem, according to an assistant professor of infectious diseases.

A Pediatrician’s Guide for Detecting Respiratory Diseases in Infants with the Rare-Stage Vaccine (RSV)

Hospitals have been at the edge of how they can function because we’ve been strapped. We’re seeing more people requiring help and fewer beds available, largely due to staffing needs,” explained Kalu. “This combination is going to create more and more problems.”

If parents notice any of the symptoms, such as a cough or a flu, they can be taken care of at home.

A sign that a child may need to seek help from their doctor or take them to the hospital is when a child’s chest is moving up and down when they breathe.

According to Mora, it is important for parents, caregivers and daycare workers to know what to look for when the RSV is present. That way, they know if a sick child can be cared for at home or in a hospital.

The allergist has been treating small children with this cold-like virus for a long time, like her peers across the country.

Mora said that breathing troubles are a sign that a child has the virus. Respiratory failure can result from more serious illnesses, such as bronchiolitis or pneumonia, caused by RSV.

An average five days to two weeks for an infection, with it often going away itself, according to the CDC. Sometimes, the cough can linger for up to four weeks, pediatricians say.

Symptoms may look like a common cold: a runny nose, a decreased appetite, coughing, sneezing, fever and wheezing. Young infants may appear more tired than normal and have trouble breathing.

It’s also important to watch for signs that your child is struggling to breathe or breathing with their ribs or belly – “symptoms which may kind of overlap with many of the other viruses that we’re seeing a resurgence of,” Soni added.

Since it’s not easy for parents to tell the difference between respiratory illnesses like, say, RSV and flu, it’s good to take a sick child to a pediatrician, who can run tests to pinpoint the cause.

When kids don’t eat or drink, they can become very dehydrated, especially when we’re talking infants. “Once they stop eating or their urine output has decreased, they’re not having as many wet diapers, this is a sign they may have to go to the pediatrician or emergency department.”

Talk to your pediatrician before giving your child any over-the-counter cold medicines, which can sometimes contain ingredients that aren’t good for kids.

CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen says this respiratory difficulty – including a bobbing head, a flaring nose or grunting – is one of two major trouble signs with any respiratory infection. The other is dehydration. “That particularly applies to babies with stuffy noses. They may not be getting food.

The thin tube may be needed to remove mucus in their lungs. A child can get extra oxygen through a mask or through a tube that attaches to their nose. Some children may need to use an oxygen tent. Those who are struggling a lot may need a ventilator.

Providing Mental Health Care for Children and Teens During the Covid-19 Epidemics: A View from the President of the American Academy of Pediatrics

A biography of the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics is included in this edition. The views expressed in this commentary belong to the author. CNN has more opinion.

Many emergency department and inpatient beds are occupied by children and adolescents who have mental health needs. These are not necessarily the right places for them to get mental health care. There is no other place to send them.

Funding is needed in the short term so clinicians can rapidly ramp up services to care for children who are in crisis. During the worst of the flu, clinicians in hospitals stepped up to provide care to adults. Adult resources are helpful for care of children and adolescents.

She noted that the recent flu seasons have not seen a lot of flu due to the precautions around Covid-19. Parents of young children should be thinking about the flu in the same way they used to think about it a few years ago.

There are videos on HealthyChildren.org that can show a child in need of medical care if they have trouble breathing.

A parent concerned enough about their child’s symptoms to seek care in an emergency room should not have to worry they’ll be turned away. This moment can be used to make sure we care for all children in the places that they go.

Young children who have never been exposed to these viruses are at high risk of contracting them. Older people and the immunocompromised are at higher risk too. Dropping guards to build immunity is not recommended by experts. They note that masking and social snoozing played a part in removing other viruses from their patterns. “By doing that, you prevent all these other things that are less infectious typically,” says Mary Krauland, a research assistant professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh. People are a little more vulnerable over time.

A Newly-Excited Baby with Influenza: Laura Tejeda’s Mom and Daughter, Jessica, and Zoelis, a Pediatric Primary Care Nurse

Laura Tejeda had been up watching her 7-month-old daughter Zoelis’ breathing all night this past November. She had been to a local hospital near the family’s home earlier in the day, concerned about a fever and Zoelis’ breathing being off, but had been sent home. In the middle of the night, Tejeda watched Zoelis’ chest tighten, and she knew she had to act. A nurse in the New York Presbyterian Hospital brought her to the back of the cab after taking a look at her.

She was admitted to the intensive care unit after needing BiPAP, positive pressure breathing, and oxygen to help her breathe. The culprit behind her illness: influenza A, the most common strain of the influenza virus currently circulating across the country.

“It is common that multiple people in the household will get the flu, often one after the other, resulting in a long period of household illness,” explained Dr. Katie Lockwood, a primary care pediatrician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The result is often missed days of school, activities and work for parents, she added.

Stockwell says that the country experienced a large flu wave this year. By the end of November, the rate of hospitalizations due to influenza was higher than that seen any year at this time since 2010, and rising, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“We all got it at home … one after the other,” said Tejeda, who developed fatigue and severe nausea herself while caring for Zoelis in the hospital. Then her two older children, as well as two cousins, came down with the virus, followed by her father, a type 2 diabetic who needed to go to the hospital and is still recovering weeks later.

Although complications are most common in younger children and those with weakened immune systems or chronic illnesses like asthma, even previously healthy children can develop a complication, Lockwood says.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/08/health/flu-children-wellness/index.html

Pediatric Flu Flu Flu Vaccines Should be Inoculated at 6 Months of Age, according to the CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics

According to the CDC and American Academy of pediatrics, children should be inoculated at 6 months of age. Children 6 months through 8 years who are receiving the flu vaccine for the first time should receive two doses one month apart.