Suggest Treatment For Fever, Cough And Sore Throat In A Child

Posted on Mon, 21 Dec 2015

Question: what do you do for a 5 yr old boy with fever, cough and sore throat?

Answered by Dr. Sumanth Amperayani (13 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Suggestions on sore throat and fever

Detailed Answer:
Hi...by what you quote I feel that your kid might be having a viral sore throat or a streptococcal infection.

I suggest you see your pediatrician and get a rapid streptococcal antigen test done. If it is positive then the kid will require antibiotics. If it is negative then it might be viral illness and doesn't require antibiotics at all.

Cough and cold are viral 95% of the times in children. For cold you can use anti-allergics like cetirizine and for nose block, saline nasal decongestants will do.

If there is fever - Paracetamol can be given in the dose of 15mg/kg/dose (max ceiling dose 500mg) every 4-6th hourly, that too only if fever is more than 100F. I suggest not using combination medicines for fever, especially with Paracetamol.

Warm saline gargles will be soothing and will give a lot of relief if the kid can do that.

Regards - Dr. Sumanth

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar