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Health

07th Sep 2020

Doctor’s advice: What you should do if your child has symptoms of COVID-19

Melissa Carton

Irish schools have all opened their doors over the last couple of weeks.

Children are always going to catch little things like coughs and colds when they go back to school but with schools putting in place extra safety measures to prevent the spread of COVID it makes it difficult for parents to know what to do.

Only recently my own child had a runny nose and to be on the safe side I kept them out of school but it turned out to just be the common cold.

Still it was pretty worrying and it had me wondering about what exactly I should be looking out for in my children and what steps to take if I think they might have COVID-19.

Coronavirus

Dr Laura GP recently posted to Instagram with a comprehensive list of information for parents regarding COVID-19 that I think all parents should read.

In the post she warned to be wary of a lot of misinformation that is doing the rounds and that most children she has assessed in GP did NOT have COVID19.

She also pointed out that the major symptoms of child cases (about 70 per cent) will have fever >38.0 OR cough OR are short of breath- 20 per cent roughly asymptomatic.

Children under 13 account for less than 3 per cent of positive cases in Ireland (<5 per cent in Europe!)
And they are MUCH LESS LIKELY to get severe disease in COVID19.

View this post on Instagram

Lots of misinformation out there about kids & coronavirus. Let’s look at what we DO know – Young children less likely to transmit infection than adults – Adult more likely to be the index case in household – Teenagers are more like adults in terms of transmission If your child has symptoms: – Most children we will assess in GP will NOT have COVID19 – GPs should be looking for another diagnosis first – Major symptoms of child cases (about 70%) will have fever >38.0 OR cough OR are short of breath (SOB) – 20% roughly asymptomatic Children under 13 account for less than 3% of positive cases in Ireland (<5% in Europe!) And they are MUCH LESS LIKELY to get severe disease in COVID19 What happens if a child has symptoms? (Swipe along images above to see chart released by @hpscireland & @icgpnews Ring GP – they will decide if child needs face to face exam or not If any symptoms suggestive of coronavirus then should be sent for test If a child is sent for test then the ENTIRE HOUSEHOLD is restricted until the test results are known. If doesn’t get test – then everyone has to isolate for 14 days! So it’s worth getting tested. Yes its not nice, but hopefully new test soon makes it easier. Getting tested DOES NOT affect children in the Childs pod or bubble ONLY if the child tests positive then there are implications for pod The chart from @hpscireland is great. 2 situations pertinent to kids that I see as most important SCENARIO 6 – child has runny nose or other minor symptoms NO FEVER, NO COUGH, NO SOB, NO CONTACTS ETC. Child is not in perfect form basically. In this case you should keep child home from school or childcare for period of 48 hours to observe emerging condition – this child is sick, but not too sick. There are no restrictions on household contacts yet. If further symptoms develop speak to GP or if worried VERSUS SCENARIO 8 – child has a runny nose but IS NOT UNWELL, good form, good energy and normal appetite, no fever etc – THIS CHILD CAN GO TO SCHOOL / CRECHE. Does that help? Let me know your questions below. I’ve tried to pick the biggest learning points for this but I’m sure there will be lots of questions!

A post shared by Dr. Laura Lenihan (@drlauragp) on

Dr Laura also gave advice on what you should do if you think your child may have COVID-19:

-Ring GP – they will decide if child needs face to face exam or not.

-If any symptoms suggestive of coronavirus then should be sent for test.

-If a child is sent for test then the ENTIRE HOUSEHOLD is restricted until the test results are known.

-If doesn’t get test – then everyone has to isolate for 14 days! So it’s worth getting tested. Yes its not nice, but hopefully new test soon makes it easier.

-Getting tested DOES NOT affect children in the Childs pod or bubble ONLY if the child tests positive then there are implications for pod.

Dr Laura included a chart from @hpscireland which you can read by clicking on her Instagram post (link above).

It’s not always easy to know what to do right now but the more reliable information we can collect the better.