Cold and Cough in Children – The common facts
Most of the hospital visits by parents of children, especially younger ones, are for complaints of cold and cough. Parents are usually concerned because of accompanying fever in most of cases. Majority of these episodes of illness are VIRAL in origin and as such medical treatment is symptomatic and no antibiotic is required.
Cold is a VIRAL illness in which symptoms of running nose and blocked nose are common. The first symptom is often sore or scratchy throat, followed by blocked nose and finally runny nose. Around 1/3 cases of cold are associated with cough. Other complaints like fever, headache, body ache and tiredness can also occur. Usually episode of cold and cough lasts about 1 week and 10% cases may last for 2 weeks. Colds occur year –round , but more common in August- October and April- May due to increased activity of RHINOVIRUS. Other viruses like RSV can cause cold between December to April.
Young children (up to 3-4 years of life) have average of 6-8 colds per year and 15% children have at up to 12 cold episodes per year i.e. one per month. The cold episodes decrease with age and by adulthood average of 2-3 episodes per year are reported. Parents should seek medical opinion early if following complaints occur:
1. Child refuses to drink anything for long period of time.
2. Change in behavior of child- either very sleepy or very irritable.
3. Difficulty in breathing.
Antibiotics are not effective in treating colds. They may be necessary if the cold is complicated by a bacterial infection, like an ear infection, pneumonia, or sinusitis. Inappropriate use of antibiotics can lead to the development of antibiotic resistance, and can possibly lead to side effects, such as an allergic reaction.
Simple hygiene measures can help to prevent infection with the viruses that cause colds. Hand washing prevent the spread of infection. Hands should be wet with water and plain soap, and rubbed together for 15 to 30 seconds. Alcohol-based hand rubs are a good alternative for disinfecting hands if a sink is not available. It may be difficult or impossible to completely avoid people who are ill, although parents should try to limit direct contact.
Some parents ascribe cause of cold to food items like curd, fruits and rice. These are food myths and have no scientific rationale. As previously mentioned young children can have one episode of cold every 1 to 1 ½ months in first few years of life and they are not related to weak immunity. Children who are bottle fed have more chances of getting colds, ear infections and diarrhea episodes. Exclusive breast feeding in first 6 months of life protects little ones from catching frequent infections.