Cold and Fever: What we often refer to as a child’s cold and fever is known in the medical field as an upper respiratory tract infection, and it is a “constant” theme in pediatric outpatient clinics throughout the year. Q: whether to go to the hospital? The baby has obvious cold symptoms, runny nose, sneezing, and even started a fever, the family will be “whether to go to the hospital” dispute. On the one hand, the mother is afraid to go to the hospital to be cross-infected, and advocate buying some medicine for the child to eat; on the other hand, the grandmother insisted on going to the hospital, do not delay the child. Shen Zhenyu answer, if the baby just coughing, sneezing, runny nose, transient low fever and other typical cold symptoms, and the mental state is very good, does not mean that we must go to the hospital. The baby’s cold is usually a viral infection, and viral infections are self-limiting illnesses, meaning that regardless of whether they are treated or not, they generally heal within a week or so, and there are no specific drugs for viruses. Parents can buy some over-the-counter children’s cold medicine for their babies to take, mainly to relieve the symptoms, so that they are not so uncomfortable. For babies with fever, if the temperature does not exceed 38.5 degrees Celsius, first consider physical cooling; when the temperature exceeds 38.5 degrees Celsius, then consider the use of antipyretics. Q: Should I change doctors and medicines when my fever recurs? Many families have this kind of experience, during the daytime just take the baby to the hospital, the temperature down, but in the evening the baby again fever, the family again in a frenzy to send the baby to the hospital. Obviously took fever-reducing drugs, why the temperature will still rebound? Is it because the medicine doesn’t work, or is it because the doctor doesn’t work? At this time, many families will be whether to change the doctor, or even change the hospital again dispute. The fact that your baby’s fever recurs does not mean that the treatment has failed. It is because the body is infected with bacteria, viruses and inflammation. Even if the baby ate antibiotics or antiviral drugs, but the inflammation is not likely to disappear immediately, fever-reducing drugs will only temporarily lower the temperature, when the medicine is over the body temperature will rise again. He warned that parents should not take “fever” as the enemy, fever is not a disease, just a symptom. Give the baby to eat fever-reducing drugs should not pursue the temperature must be reduced to 36.5 degrees, in fact, down to 38 can be, at this temperature, the baby will not feel too uncomfortable, bacteria and viruses of the corresponding decline in vitality, at the same time the baby’s body white blood cells will increase the killing power, is conducive to the baby’s recovery. Q：What kind of food can’t I eat when I have a cold and fever? Can I take a bath? When taking care of a baby with fever, can I give the baby a bath or not? On the one hand, it is believed that the baby is cold because of the cold to catch a cold, the bath will make the baby cold again; on the other hand, it is believed that the baby will be much more comfortable to take a bath, is conducive to recovery. Shen Zhenyu answered that this question is also often asked by parents in the clinic. If you pay attention to keeping your baby warm when bathing and dressing to avoid the baby getting cold, then there is no problem with bathing. Moreover, a warm bath will make the baby feel comfortable and help to reduce the fever at the same time. Taking a warm bath itself is also a way to lower the temperature physically. Encouraging your baby to drink more water before and after the bath so that he or she sweats and urinates more can also help to lower the temperature. Many mothers and grandmothers are very concerned about what dietary contraindications babies have when they have colds and fevers, and Shen Zhenyu believes that babies should continue to eat, i.e., what they normally eat can still be eaten now. Q: When should I see a doctor again? If it is just a common upper respiratory tract infection, as mentioned earlier, it is usually a viral infection, and the doctor will not use antimicrobials. If the baby’s fever lasts for 3 days, it is recommended to bring the baby to the doctor again, and the doctor will usually do blood tests for the baby to see if there is a bacterial infection, and if there is no bacterial infection, then it is not necessary to use antimicrobials. After treatment, if the baby’s fever lasts up to 7 days, it is necessary to bring the baby to the doctor again, and the doctor will need to rule out whether it is another illness. Most parents pay close attention to the baby’s temperature, he reminded that in the whole period of the baby’s illness, compared with the temperature, parents need to pay more attention to the child has a rash (suggesting that there may be chickenpox, measles, hand, foot and mouth disease, etc.), whether shortness of breath (suggesting that it may be bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma), mental condition is poor (such as the appearance of lethargy, irritability and other manifestations of the possibility of serious infections or central nervous system diseases, such as encephalitis), once the baby’s fever continues to 7 days, the doctor needs to rule out any other diseases. system diseases, such as encephalitis), once one of the above situations, it is necessary to immediately consult a doctor. Diarrhea: and autumn and winter is different, in the spring and summer if the baby diarrhea caused by unclean diet. At this time, Guangdong’s temperature has been relatively high, food is easy to spoil, so it is best not to give the baby to eat leftovers, if you want to eat must be thoroughly heated. Here also remind parents, has opened the drink, overnight, do not give the baby to drink again, drinks in the sugar is relatively high, very suitable for bacterial growth, the baby once drank a mouthful of bacteria already inside, overnight the amount of bacteria will be very high (some bacteria reproduce in 20 minutes, a generation), the baby then drink easy to cause diarrhea. Q: Do I need to bring my baby’s diaper to the doctor when I go to the doctor? Yes, it is necessary. Doctors will pay special attention to the presence of blood and mucus in your baby’s poop, which indicate a possible bacterial infection. If you have to travel a long way or it is inconvenient to bring it with you, you can use your cell phone to take a picture of your baby’s poop and show it to the doctor when you visit the doctor. Q: What is the fastest and best way to stop diarrhea? What is the fastest and best way to stop diarrhea? This is the baby’s diarrhea, most parents are most concerned about the problem, and some even ask the doctor to give the baby injection “antidiarrheal injection”, a shot that is good. Shen Zhenyu answer that doctors generally do not prescribe strong antidiarrheal drugs, because the baby’s diarrhea is a virus out of the body process, strong antidiarrheal is not conducive to the virus out of the body. And stop diarrhea compared to the doctor will be more concerned about preventing the problem of dehydration in babies, if the baby has symptoms of dehydration, the need for immediate medical attention, by the doctor to assess the degree of dehydration in babies, severe dehydration of babies and even the need to stay in the hospital, due to severe dehydration may rapidly develop into shock, the need for immediate resuscitation. Intervention for dehydration should not wait until symptoms of dehydration appear, but should be taken from the very beginning of diarrhea to take hydration measures. Q: How do I know if my baby is dehydrated? You can tell by remembering these words: “Touch the head, touch the hands, look at the eyes, and look at the mouth”. Touching the head” means that if the fontanel of the baby’s head appears to be sunken, it suggests possible dehydration; “touching the hands” means observing whether the baby has symptoms such as dry hands, cold hands, poor skin elasticity, etc.; “looking at the eyes” means observing whether the baby is crying or not. “Look at the eyes” means to observe whether the baby has no tears when crying and the eye sockets are sunken; “Look at the mouth” means to observe whether the baby’s lips are dry; in addition, if the baby’s urine output is significantly reduced compared with the past, and the skin appears mottled, etc., it also suggests that the baby may be dehydrated, and needs to be sent to the doctor immediately. infusion? Shen Zhenyu answers that the prevention of dehydration generally use oral rehydration can be, unless the baby drink on the case of vomiting, or dehydration has been very serious, only to consider the use of infusion to rehydrate. Q: feed the baby plain water, he just refused to drink, how to hydrate? You don’t have to stick to plain water, beverages, congee and soup can be used as long as your baby is willing to drink. Do not feed too much at once, easy to cause the baby to resist, to a small number of times, as long as there is an opportunity to let the baby drink. Among them, in the rice soup water with a little salt to feed the baby to drink the best, and white water compared to the salt of the rice soup water absorption rate is higher, but also can be supplemented due to diarrhea loss of electrolytes and nutrients. In addition, parents can also use the doctor prescribed hypotonic oral rehydration salts water to the baby to drink, the absorption rate of water is drinking water many times. Here to remind, some parents get hypotonic rehydration salts think is “medicine”, rinse a little water to let the child drink, this is the wrong approach, can not achieve the effect of rehydration, must be in accordance with the proportion of packaging tips to add water. Q: the old man said the baby diarrhea, do not give him food, so that the stomach and intestines to fully rest will be better faster, this has no sense? The old belief is that it is best to fast when you have diarrhea, but the current view is that babies can still eat when they have diarrhea, but it is best to choose foods that are easy to digest. After experiencing a bout of diarrhea, babies often lose a significant amount of weight. Therefore, parents should pay attention to their babies’ nutritional supplements after they have recovered from the illness. Q: I gave my baby diarrhea formula, why does he still have diarrhea? Dr. Shen Zhenyu answered that for infants and young children who are eating milk powder, if diarrhea occurs, the doctor will usually recommend changing to diarrhea milk powder. The role of diarrhea milk powder is not to stop diarrhea, but will not aggravate the condition of diarrhea, and will not prolong the time of diarrhea. Ordinary milk powder contains lactose, the baby in the diarrhea during the transient lactase decline, if you drink ordinary milk powder may aggravate the diarrhea condition, and diarrhea milk powder is de-lactose. After the baby’s diarrhea gets better, it is recommended to continue to eat diarrhea milk powder for one week. Q：Why does my baby’s butt still fester even though we wash it with water every time he has diarrhea? When diarrhea is severe, babies can poop many times a day. Excessive washing and wiping may cause breakage of the baby’s skin, which may in turn lead to infection. If your baby’s bottom is not very dirty, try to keep your baby’s bottom as dry as possible by gently wiping it dry with a soft tissue or cloth after pooping. Some families will use the “magic lamp” to shine the baby’s butt, someone must be next to the supervision, and to control the temperature and distance, to avoid the baby was burned, if you do not grasp the control of good, it is best not to use.