The nasal secretions that accompany colds scare parents with children in the community more than it should be. A family doctor explains in a post that this symptom can persist for three weeks in a virus. The doctor also shows when there is a risk of contagion, contrary to myths.
Colds require extended periods of staying at home PHOTO: Pixabay
The cold season means frequent illnesses, nerves, triage – more or less effective – in kindergartens and schools and the challenge of finding home care solutions for the child who can no longer go to the educational institution until he is cured. One of the symptoms that worries parents, as noted by family doctor Patricia Badea, is nasal secretions. What all parents do not know is that this symptom can persist for up to three weeks in a virus, and if during this time the child contracts another virus, the period can be extended. However, the risk of contagion does not exist throughout the period, and the doctor explains to parents how to recognize the phases in which the disease can be passed on.
“I’m reposting this post until I retire, I’m sure we’re not getting rid of them!!
SHUT UP! This millstone of modern parenting! There are no parents more stressed by snot than Romanians! Starting from the first days of life (when it wasn’t sucked well at birth = another mess) when the nose is full of milk and secretions and starts to snort and up to 10 years when you actually don’t care if his sleeves are full of snot, parents would do anything, try any solution (that’s why the market is saturated with all the crap, like volatile oils that generate allergies and bronchospasm), anything spray, any drops, only, only the child’s nose becomes permeable to air!”, says the doctor in the post.
The doctor further explains in the post that there is “four kinds of snot” and that they last three weeks in a virus, “during which the child has time to take another one and starts it all over again with new ones”.
“They flow like tap water, they appear in the first days of the virus, they are very contagious!!”
“Remember well and also tell others: the snot from a virus lasts 3 weeks, during which time the child has time to take another one and starts it all over again with new ones!”, said the doctor.
“There are 4 types of snot:
1. Watery – they flow like tap water, appear in the first days of the virus and are very contagious!;
2. Gelatinous whitish – these are the secretions that begin to be charged by the own defense cells (the child’s immunity is activated, it works regardless of the amount of vitamin C or other miraculous syrups) that begin to swallow the viruses, they appear on the 3-7th day of the virus;
3. Green mucus = the fear of nurses, educators and implicitly mothers are nothing but residual secretions, all the cells that fought the viruses, that covered the inflamed mucous membranes, etc. THEY ARE NOT CONTAGIOUS AND DO NOT MEAN PUS IN THE NOSE! It does not require an antibiotic, but it does require frequent washing and cleaning of the nose to clear it up. If they remain blocked through the nose, being very viscous, they can cause otitis in some children and sinusitis (pain, fever) in adults. They last 10-14 days until they are completely eliminated, during which time the child can go to the community, provided that someone blows his/her nose;
4. Phosphorescent yellow mucus – it is the secretions superinfected by staphylococcus that require topical (NOT oral) antibiotic treatment that your doctor recommends!! (NOT the pharmacist, nanny, educator!).
With all due respect to ALL professions, those who take care of children must know everything I wrote above!
And you, the parents, when you hear other children coughing in the yard and the cough is productive, thick, stay calm, that child is not contagious! If instead you see one with watery snot running out of his mouth, be sure you’ve been burned!”, the doctor also specified.
Doctor Patricia Badea’s post caused all kinds of reactions in the comments. Many parents explained that they have no choice but to keep their children at home until all symptoms are resolved, because these are the rules imposed by educational institutions that do not take medical information into account. And from here started a real debate on the leave that most parents are obliged to request in order to be able to take care of the children at home. Most parents confessed that they opt for days off, on the one hand because many employers pressure the employee not to request sick leave, reasoning that it will be difficult to recover their money from CJAS, and on the other hand because they would lose their salary.
“I live in Spain and in the emergency room I had a poster that said a child without snot is like a garden without flowers! This is so that they don’t get crowded for trifles”one parent pointed out in the comments.
Other parents say that at schools in Denmark, the United Kingdom or Austria “snot is not a stress” and that as long as the child is not high fever and apathetic “everyone goes to kindergarten or daycare.”
There were also quite a few comments from parents who are big fans of using the oils, jumping to the defense of the products that the doctor stated in the post can cause allergic reactions and bronchospasm.
How to treat colds and when to go to the hospital
In another recent post, doctor Patricia Badea explained to patients how to treat viruses, but also what are the worrying situations that recommend going to the doctor.
The conduct in the treatment of viral infections is as follows:
– antithermics (ibuprofen, paracetamol) every 4 hours if the fever is over 38 on the thermometer for 3 days;
– cleaned the nose with sea water and nasal decongestants x3 a day, 5 days;
– neck spray x3 a day – 5 days;
– herbal cough syrup (for children over 2 years old) if the cough is frequent and troublesome – 5 days;
– aerosol x3 a day if age does not allow cough syrup or you have an irritating cough;
– vitamin C – 7-10 days;
– tea with honey x 2-3 a day – 3-5 days.
In order to institute the treatment in the case of a child younger than 6 months, however, it is necessary to see a doctor; the same is done if, after administering the above treatment, the child’s condition is bad, the child is not breathing well, etc., the doctor specified.
It is not recommended to go to the doctor on the first day of fever unaccompanied by other symptoms, nor after the seventh to tenth day of the virus, when the child no longer coughs at night, but still has nasal secretions and has a heavy cough in the morning.
“Yes, surprisingly, the virus does not go away overnight with all the treatment in the world, and the residual secretions last three weeks!”the doctor also noted.
