Childhood Illness

Why does my 3-year-old daughter have so many coughs and colds?

Coughs and colds are the commonest illnesses that children suffer. As coughs can be due to serious illnesses such as pneumonia or asthma, the parental anxiety a child’s cough can cause is quite understandable. Pre-school children have an average of about 9 upper respiratory infections (colds) per year and more if spending a lot of time with other children (being in child care for example).

The vast majority of colds are viral and do not respond to antibiotics. A very small number of children will develop a secondary bacterial infection such as bacterial tonsillitis which will require antibiotics. This secondary bacterial infection is so infrequent that the use of antibiotics to prevent it is not justified, especially when one considers the side-effects that the antibiotics may cause. 40% of patients given erythromycin develop nausea, abdominal pain vomiting or some combination. Two thirds of children when given amoxicillin under the age of 2 years will develop loose bowel actions.

So what is to be done? Medical Science has not found a way of shortening the common cold. It is important to keep up the fluids, as fever causes the child to lose water through sweating. If the child is uncomfortable they may have paracetamol (acetophenetidin or phenacetin). Regular paracetamol is not necessary; it will lower fever but fever is one of the defence mechanisms that help the body fight infection.

Aspirin is a definite no-no in young children.

If the child will not drink or looks obviously sick (listless, drowsy, struggling to breathe) then see a doctor. The person who discovers a cure for colds will become very rich and probably win the Nobel Prize