Suggest Remedy For Persistent Fever And Cough In A Child

Posted on Wed, 28 Oct 2015

Question: My son is 4 and a half years old.when he was 5 months old he had cold and fever for the first time.Doctor prescribed antibiotics . At the age of 10 months he got hospitalised due to accute respiratory infection. After this he caught cold n fever in every 2 or 3 months.after 3 years old he got infected in every month.in 2014 he had 13 antibiotics. Now also like that.in this July he had fever and chest congestion. Dr prescribed cefpodoxime .at that time cbc is taken.it is shown that his easinophil count is 17%.when he was better CBC was taken again and shown that 8%.in last August also he had fever n cough.cefpodoxime is given again.in September also he had accute respiratory infection and fever. Dr adviced for nebulization using asthalin and cefrin antibiotic. Today also he is having cold.what's his problem? What is the permanent solution for this?

Answered by Dr. Sumanth Amperayani (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Could be allergic problem not infection - answer questions please

Detailed Answer:
Hi...Thank you for consulting in Health Care magic. Greetings from XXXXXXX
By what you quote I feel what your kid could be having viral associated wheeze or multi triggered wheeze. I have a few questions for you -
Questions:
1. How many days per month does she cough or feel breathless?
2. How many nights per month does her sleep get disturbed due to above symptoms?
3. Does she feel breathless when she runs around or plays with other kids?
4. Are the symptoms when there are seasonal changes?
5. Is there any family history of asthma or any other sort of allergies like skin allergy etc.?
6. Is the cough always associated with fever?

Regards - Dr. Sumanth

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

Follow up: Dr. Sumanth Amperayani (5 hours later)

1. At least once per month he get this problem of cough followed by breathlessness. This happened last three times.
2. Normally sleep does not get affected with this. But when he has cold he gets up 2 to 3 times at night .
3. When there is no cough or cold he never get breathlessness
4. We feel the some seasonal changes affect him. Some times when he play with dusty toys or things he get cold and if it persists chest congestion
5. My mother got asthma problem and my brother had asthma problem till his age of 15. My husband had allergy (uticaria) for almost 2 years. But last 7 years he is not having that problem .
6. Few times he had fever followed by cough but not always ...

Answered by Dr. Sumanth Amperayani (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Looks like multi triggered wheeze - he needs inhalers

Detailed Answer:
Hi...Thank you for consulting in Health Care magic. Greetings from XXXXXXX
By what you quote I feel what your kid is having is multi triggered wheeze. This is not infection and hence antibiotics are not a solution for this. This is an allergy related problem.

Suggestions:
1. There are certainly alternative management therapies in allopathy now-a-days. Medicine has advanced a lot and now wheezing is 100% controllable.
2. Inhalers are the newest management strategies for this. If I were your paediatrician I would have suggested the use of Budecort metered dose inhaler (100mcg) 2 puffs twice a day through a spacer and this is for regular use for 8 weeks. Another metered dose inhaler is Levolin and this can used as rescue therapy whenever the kid is having severe cough in spite of regular usage of Budecort. The technique is very important and very crucial for the drug to be delivered correctly to the lungs. Regularity of medicine usage also matters a lot. So do not discontinue abruptly after you notice some improvement. The technique of administering an inhaler using a spacer has to be taught to you by your doctor and these are prescription medicines. So I suggest you consult your paediatrician for this.
3. Triggers can be environmental changes/ dust/ talcum powder/ seasonal changes/ un-cleaned a/c vents/ cold weather etc....we can specifically say this is the cause - unless we observe the kid closely - best person is the parent.

Hope my answer was helpful for you. I am happy to help any time. Further clarifications and consultations on Health care magic are welcome. If you do not have any clarifications, you can close the discussion and rate the answer. Wish your kid good health.
Dr. Sumanth MBBS., DCH., DNB (Paed).,

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

Follow up: Dr. Sumanth Amperayani (1 hour later)

He had experienced severe breathlessness 2 times only.in last September and 3 days back.

Answered by Dr. Sumanth Amperayani (14 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Frequency of symptoms matters

Detailed Answer:
Hi....even though the Severity was high only twice... The frequency of symptoms is more. This warrants the usage of metered dose inhalers.

Regards - Dr. Sumanth

Note: For further queries related to your child health, Talk to a Pediatrician. Click here to Book a Consultation.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Neel Kudchadkar