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SALT LAKE CITY -- As flu and cold season arrives, the sound of a cough, wheezing, or the slow painful movements of a child can cause distress to parents. Doctors say trust your instincts on how to treat your kids when they're sick.
"I always recommend to parents that they trust their intuition," says Dr. Charles Pruitt, an emergency pediatrician at Primary Children's Medical Center.
"You know your child best," says Pruitt. "You know them better than I do. You know them better than your family physician."
Pruitt says when parents come to the emergency room, he takes very seriously their concern that their child just isn't acting right. However, some parents tend to overreact to their children's symptoms.
I always recommend to parents that they trust their intuition.
–Dr. Charles Pruitt
For example, doctors say some parents want to rush to the ER at the first sign of a fever when a home remedy will work.
"Fever is a good thing," says Pruitt. "It helps fight off the infection. It helps kill the infecting organism."
Some parents may worry that a fever is a serious sign that something is wrong. And while fevers can become serious, they're not necessarily bad.
"A fever is the body's normal reaction to an infection," says Pruitt, "and to other causes of inflammation."
Meanwhile, doctors say there are instances when an emergency room visit is crucial. "When children are not acting themselves, they're not able to participate in their usual activities, they don't want to play," explains Pruitt. "They don't want to eat. They don't want to drink. These are also very serious symptoms."
Pruitt recommends watching for other symptoms such as, "If a child is coughing so hard that they can't catch their breath. They're speaking in single word sentences" explains Pruitt. "If they really seem to be straining to breath, that's a very serious sign and you really should come to the emergency department or call 911."
Generally doctors recommend children go to school and participate in their normal day-to-day activities if they seem healthy enough.
"The Academy of Pediatrics and the Utah Chapter of the Academy of Pediatrics recommends that unless a child is so sick that they can't participate in normal school activities," explains Pruitt, "that they should go to school. We shouldn't keep kids from school nearly as much as we do."
E-mail: niyamba@ksl.com
