Suggest Treatment For Fever And Cough

Posted on Mon, 27 Oct 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 27 Oct 2014 Answered on

Thu, 20 Nov 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : My 11 year old son began running a fever 99-101 degrees, 11 days ago. Also has a nasty cough. On day 5, I took him to pediatrician. Was told bloodwork indicated a virus. Let it run its course. On day 8, I took him back. Lungs still sound clear, but gave him amoxicillin. On day 11 (4th day of antibiotic), he still has a fever of 101 in the evenings. It will be normal or close to normal in the am and rise as the day continues. He is very lethargic. Going back to Doctor tomorrow. What kind of tests should I insist upon. I have never seen my child like this. His twin brother who shares a room with him has had no symptoms.

Answered by Dr. Eric Goldstein (32 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Fever

Detailed Answer:
Hello. I just read through your question. I agree with everything your pediatrician has done so far. He was right to wait a few more days before starting the amoxicillin, especially with a blood test that indicated virus. He was right for choosing amoxicillin as the antibiotic. There are times however that amoxicillin doesn't work, usually because of a mildly resistant strain of bacteria.
The first thing to be done at this point is another physical exam. Exams, especially on children, frequently evolve and can be different from one day to the next. They may choose to repeat the blood test and that would be ok but not vital. If there was any test I would consider running if the physical exam didn't offer any clue, it would be a chest x-ray. Keep in mind, however, that simply changing the antibiotic to something stronger, or just in a different class, would also be appropriate.

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