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Husband Age 68 Has 101.5 Temp Last Night, Lower This
Question: Husband age 68 has 101.5 temp last night, lower this morning 100 and know 101.5 again. Had a cold couple weeks ago and cough lingered. Got noravirus from granddaughter last Sat. and now I believe a respiratory flu. has had headache and of course body aches. What, when and how much med for temp. Says the cough does not hurt as much as yesterday and throat hurts mostly when swallows.
Brief Answer:
See below.
Detailed Answer:
Hello, I'm Dr. Branch,
Thanks for using the 'Ask A Doctor' service.
I'm sorry to hear your husband has not been feeling well. At his age, if he does have influenza, and since it sounds like it has been less than 48 hours since it started if you are able to be seen by a doctor, I would consider treating him with Tamiflu to try to minimize any complications and shorten the time of the illness from influenza.
If he begins to have a hard time breathing, I would also be sure to get him medical attention, as that may be a sign of pneumonia.
But for the fever, Tylenol would be the best choice, and as long as he does not have any liver problems, you can give Tylenol 500 mg every 6 hours, or 1 gram every 8 hours as needed for fever (just be sure not to give more than 4 grams within 24 hours).
For the cough, over the counter medications that would be most likely to help would be an antihistamine/decongestant combination, like Claritin-D or Zyrtec-D.
But again, if he has had a cough for a couple of weeks now, and is starting to have fevers, I would be concerned about bacterial pneumonia developing and would suggest being seen by a doctor if possible.
I hope that helps.
Please let me know if you have any other questions about any of that and I would be glad to discuss it with you further.
See below.
Detailed Answer:
Hello, I'm Dr. Branch,
Thanks for using the 'Ask A Doctor' service.
I'm sorry to hear your husband has not been feeling well. At his age, if he does have influenza, and since it sounds like it has been less than 48 hours since it started if you are able to be seen by a doctor, I would consider treating him with Tamiflu to try to minimize any complications and shorten the time of the illness from influenza.
If he begins to have a hard time breathing, I would also be sure to get him medical attention, as that may be a sign of pneumonia.
But for the fever, Tylenol would be the best choice, and as long as he does not have any liver problems, you can give Tylenol 500 mg every 6 hours, or 1 gram every 8 hours as needed for fever (just be sure not to give more than 4 grams within 24 hours).
For the cough, over the counter medications that would be most likely to help would be an antihistamine/decongestant combination, like Claritin-D or Zyrtec-D.
But again, if he has had a cough for a couple of weeks now, and is starting to have fevers, I would be concerned about bacterial pneumonia developing and would suggest being seen by a doctor if possible.
I hope that helps.
Please let me know if you have any other questions about any of that and I would be glad to discuss it with you further.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Arnab Banerjee
Answered by
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