Fever after about 4 weeks of cough and runny nose....should I be worried?

[AprilM]

DS is 2, and I was contemplating whether or not I should have posted this in the Toddlers forum, but I thought maybe this forum would know better.

DS started with a cough and runny nose about 4 weeks ago. We took him to the pedi who said it looked like a virus. It got better over the next few weeks, the wet cough turned dry and the yellow mucous turned clear again.

He then had one day of diarreah and then that was gone. The coughing and runny nose have not completely gone away, and then today he woke up with a slight fever. He has been fighting a fever on and off now all day.

When I talked to his pedi on the phone 2 days ago (before the fever), I asked him about pnemonia, and he said since DS's cough is dry, he is running around playing with no fever, that I have nothing to worry about.

But now with the fever, should I be overly concerned?

Thanks. I wanted to see what you ladies thought before I phoned his pedi again. We are with a big practice, so getting that exact pedi on the phone again might take awhile.

[yentroc]

Fevers after the duration of a virus could be a secondary bacterial infection (the fevers are usually pretty high in that case).

Or... could be the start of another virus?

I'd have his lungs listened to.

Hope he feels better soon.

[Vermillion]

My son and I have both had coughs/runny noses for the last 4 weeks, it's hay fever season! Maybe your son has allergies, and the fever is from a new virus he is just now getting?

[ameliabedelia]

It sounds like he may be getting another viral infection before the previous one had a chance to heal.

I would try to find a way to get vitamin c and garlic into him. Most toddlers won't eat raw garlic, so I usually buy the garlic capsules and then cut one open and mix the inside with food and give it to the child that way.

If he doesn't seem to get better, then I would have him looked it, but I would try to treat it at home first.

[AprilM]

Thanks ladies. The fever only lasted about a day and a half, and it never went past 100. Immediately following the fever, he got a rash all over his tummy and back. I took him to the pedi, and he was diagnosed with rosacea and the doc wants me to put him on Claritan (in case it is allergies) for 3 weeks on, reassess, if no better, 3 weeks on again and continue that until December before trying anything else. I didn't want to do that, but DS was so miserable and mucousy, I gave him Claritan for 3 days. He became VERY moody. On the morning of the 4th day, he woke up worse than before, so I stopped the Claritan.

I have been giving him KingBio Hay Fever and Allergy homeopathic spray, 2000 mg of SA broken into 4 times a day, CLO, probiotics, took out dairy,animal parade multi vite, vitamin D (total D between the supplements and the CLO = 2000) per day, and saline nasal spray throughout the day.

He is still coughing every once in awhile, and his nose is still clear mucous. The other night his eyes became red on the upper lid and lower lid, his left eye becoming so puffy we ended taking him to a emergency clinic because it was Saturday and the docs weren't opened. They said it looked like an exzema or allergy reaction. He was tested for strep and it came out negative.

IDK what to think. Maybe it is ragweed allergy. I do have some garlic here maybe I will try it. Thanks ladies for your replies, if anyone has any more input I would be very open to hear it.

[MandyB]

My baby (and I) just found out we both have whooping cough, and I can tell you that you pretty much described our symptoms to a t. Would it be possible he has this? Ours started off with a cold, fever for 1-2 days, then it seemed like we were better, until the cough came back. Now neither of of is coughing all day long, but it comes and goes throughout the day. We've also been dealing with this for about a month! Also, could he have had roseola? That's what the rash w/fever sounds like to me. Hope he's better soon!

[AprilM]

Originally Posted by MandyB

My baby (and I) just found out we both have whooping cough, and I can tell you that you pretty much described our symptoms to a t. Would it be possible he has this? Ours started off with a cold, fever for 1-2 days, then it seemed like we were better, until the cough came back. Now neither of of is coughing all day long, but it comes and goes throughout the day. We've also been dealing with this for about a month! Also, could he have had roseola? That's what the rash w/fever sounds like to me. Hope he's better soon!

Oh my! I never even entertained the thought of pertussis! Is there a test for that? Is there anything in particular I should be doing for him if it is pertussis? And how long should I expect it to go on?

Would pertussis cause a red swollen eye too?

[MandyB]

Originally Posted by AprilM

Oh my! I never even entertained the thought of pertussis! Is there a test for that? Is there anything in particular I should be doing for him if it is pertussis? And how long should I expect it to go on?

Would pertussis cause a red swollen eye too?

Not sure about the red swollen eye... Poor thing!

With us, they did a test where the stick a swab way up his nostril to get the mucous there. They sent it to the lab and it came back posotive for pertussis. They gave him a round of antibiotics which he took for 5 days. Really, by the time they finally figured it out though, the antibiotics weren't going to help him from what I've read. They just made him a little "less" contagious....whatever that means! lol He's doing so much better now and we both just have a tiny lingering cough. Nothing too bad anymore though.

[AprilM]

Wow. Glad to hear you guys are doing better! Thanks for the heads up that it could be whooping cough. I have been reading some threads here on MDC about pertussis symptoms. DS has been going through this for about 5 weeks now....certainly sounds like it could be.

If it is....do you think the worst has passed? And is there anything in particular I should be doing for him?