Suggest Treatment For Severe Fever And Sore Throat In An Infant

Posted on Wed, 23 Nov 2016

Question: My baby is prescribed 3.5 ml prednisone for five days for sore throat. What is your opinion about it?
a week ago he had high fever, resolved and and was on motrin .

Answered by Dr. Sumanth Amperayani (33 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Please do not use Steroids for sore throat - could be viral or bacterial

Detailed Answer:
Hi...by what you quote i feel that your kid might be having a viral sore throat or a streptococcal infection.

I suggest you see your pediatrician and get a rapid streptococcal antigen test done. If it is positive then she will require antibiotics. if it is negative then it might be viral illness and doesn't require antibiotics at all and especially not Steroids.

Cough and cold are viral 95% of the times in children. For cold you can use anti-allergics like cetirizine and for nose block, saline nasal decongestants will do. Paracetamol can be given in the dose of 15mg/kg/dose (max ceiling dose 500mg) every 4-6th hourly, that too only if fever is more than 100F. I suggest not using combination medicines for fever, especially with Paracetamol.

Regards - Dr. Sumanth

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Veerisetty Shyamkumar