“Since starting crèche over a year ago our 3 yr old had caught virus of some form every couple of weeks, sometimes starts with a temp, sometimes starts with a runny nose, or both, but always evovles into a nasty cough and often breathlessness. She’s been on multiple antibiotics, ventilin, and twice ended up in temple st for breathlessnes and on steroids. I’ve lost count of the number of Covid tests, and probably less than 50% of her time is actually spent in crèche. I know this happens when they start in school or crèche (crechitis as or GP says), but it seems to just be relentless, sometimes she goes back for just 2 or 3 days and then is sick again. Is there anything I can do to try and prevent the cough and breathlessness developing?”
The short answer is: No.
And I really empathise with this one. Pre-schooler C. has been in the same cycle of runny noses, breathlessness episodes, numerous rounds of covid testing, trips to ED, regular use of his panda spacer for his ventolin. … I haven’t heard it called “crechitis” before – but I do love the term.
So, let’s break this down.
It seems that a child barely gets over viral infection and then they have caught another. You should expect your under-6 year old to have up to 12 viral infections a year, and it generally will be mostly during autumn/winter, and can commonly be one right after another.
Which leads to the constant question in mammy groups “is there something going around?”
What is going around right now? Yes, Covid but also parainfluenza viruses and a higher-than-normal level of RSV. Rhinoviruses usually make up 50% of “colds” and young children can also pick up adenoviruses. Common tummy bugs include norovirus “winter vomiting bug”. Hand-Foot-Mouth disease is an enterovirus. In addition, vaccine preventable diseases from mumps, chicken pox, rotavirus, influenza are still going around – these can start out with symptoms like a cold.
How to stay healthy?
It’s impossible for your child to avoid it all, but healthy diet that includes adequate Vitamin D, adequate sleep, and good hygiene that including cleaning hands and good cough/sneeze etiquette are evidence-based ways to stay healthy. Cleaning hands is important to prevent illness from things like e.coli, salmonella, parasites. (Mythbusting– you can’t build up an immunity some bugs like these. Other viruses like Hand-Food-Mouth disease, RSV, and norovirus can infect again. ) Make sure childhood vaccines are up-to-date, including the flu shot.
The symptoms of most of these viruses can include stuffy/runny nose, cough, mild fever, sore throat, fussiness/poor appetite, non-specific rashes, ear aches. Adenoviruses can also cause tummy upset or conjunctivitis. But in many of these viruses, cough is often the symptom that lasts the longest, lingering up to 14 days (even up to 21 days with bronchiolitis) after the other symptoms have eased.
Worried? Talk to your GP. Antibiotics don’t treat viruses. However, some children get a bacterial infection on top of the virus, so may need a course of antibiotics. This might require more than one visit with your GP: Some of children will have their first asthma symptoms this autumn/winter triggered by a virus. If a virus has triggered asthma symptoms in your child, they may continue to have wheeze or cough until the asthma is controlled. There can be a lot of trial and error in controlling asthma symptoms. Cough – or cough worse at night – may be a symptom of uncontrolled asthma, even without wheeze.
What doesn’t work?
It shouldn’t surprise that this has led to a huge market for cures and prevention. Here is an non-exhaustive list of things that WON’T help prevent or treat your child’s respiratory viruses: cough bottles, salt therapies of any sort, homeopathy, herbal supplements, “immune tonics”, chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation, elderberry anything, probiotics, prebiotics, antihistamines, exclusion diets (the only recognised qualification for advising child nutrition is INDI/CORU registration) and anything that includes chopping up a vegetable and placing it in socks/radiators… (If you missed it, we’ve debunked every one of these before.)
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