# HELP! Can this be a secondary infection - pneumonia after flu? ot is this still flu?



## BellaClaudia (Aug 1, 2008)

On Monday my child 5.5 years old got sick, she getting gradually higher fever until was running high fever in the area of 103 one night, and then she got better, temp dow to 99.5 perky after 3 days only to wake up today on the fourth day with 101.5 again,

she also got her cough worse, she had some cough all the time but now it sort of got worse, it is not causing her any trouble breathing, it sounds deep and kind of wet inside but she is not coughing out anything.

She is tired and does not have any apteite - she drinks a lot of water and juices she even ate few organic oatmeal cookies today that she asked for and few pieces of fruit, otherwise she took two naps today and she played a bit.

She is far from being her self when she was usually sick even with high fever.

My question is .. does it sound like a secondary infection? can this be pneumonia?

the current temperature is 99 or so, as she is napping..

I really am worrying, is this a flue taking course this way since it is been only5 th day of the flu? or is it

possible that this is pneumonia going on?

Any thoughts would be helpful. Btw.. I let her temps to run without meds as I was hoping that this will take care of the source of infecton but now I am just worrying, if the temp wil go up at night would it mean that there

is a pneumonia going on?

Okay, after all haotic writing I think I boilded down my thoughts to this one:

how one can tell the difference between developoing cough during a flue from acutal pneumonia?

if the temperature would stay realtively low but the cough would be strong would you worry or

would you worry only if the cough woudl be bad and the temp would go higher or go up and down.

what medicines do you yourself consider safe if you had to use to take temp down in 5.5 years old?

ADDED: btw.. she is nursing like carazy, and I am so happy to oblige, I have a feeling that each nap and each long

nursing session gets her bit better and bring her fever down, not that I want to do take fever too fast but

I hope that the milk possibly has some help infighting the infection source so maybe it helps?

She has long and effective nursing session which I am happy that we keept it going because it was decining receantly so this is source of joy and comfort but I don't want to get too comfy if I should do something if it is necessary, I really have zero experience with pneumonia and not that much with flu either as she either had them mild or none as it never was an issue here.

One great thing is that although she is not eating much due to fever I can at least know that she is getting her breast milk and all that it gives as it is nurishing her in that way untill she will get back her full apetite.

thought I would add that.


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## texmama (Jun 4, 2005)

So, she's had an up and down fever since Monday? Sounds like the flu we just had. This year's flu was really bad, we were so miserable. dd and I both had it, hers lasted longer than mine, as I think is usually the case with kids. From my own experience, dd had fever for 7 days, peaking on the 2nd/3rd day to around 103.5, then started to go down to 99 on day 5, thought we were over it, then peaked again on day 6 to 101, down a bit the next day, and normal on day 8. Keep watching her. If it gets back up to 103+ range, I'd start to get concerned and take her in. But other than that, sounds like the same misery we had around here - no appetite, and lots of lethargy. Hope she feels better soon!


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## dbsam (Mar 3, 2007)

We're going through something similar.

My daughter, age 6.5, has been ill. She complained of a sore throat Thursday morning but had no fever throughout the day and has had no sore throat since. By 5:00pm Thursday night she was running a constant fever btwn 103-104. She was also complaining of a headache and neck pain - actually waking her up through the night. I didn't think of meningitis at the time. She has been drinking tons of water but eating very little. Her cough is worsening but is not horrible. Friday afternoon her fever spiked to 106, she had a headache, but no neck pain and hasn't had neck pain since the first night. Motrin brought the fever down to 102 but as the Motrin wore off it spiked back over 106. I assumed it was the flu and normally do not panic over virus' but the neck pain, headache, and dizziness made me worried about meningitis. I also thought my thermometer might be reading high. I took her to the ER last night. I tested my thermometer against the nurses and it was correct - the nurse told me it couldn't be because she said she w/h/b seizing at 106. Anyway, the doctor said she had the flu/upper respiratory infection. He wanted me to alternate Motrin/Tylenol every two hours. As someone who rarely medicates a fever, this seemed excessive to me. This morning I called our ped because I was still a little concerned. (I wasn't sure they would talk to me because we haven't been there in a few years. I used to take the children in once a year as a courtesy so I can call them. They were wonderful.) The ped's nurse told me the flu is going around like crazy and her symptoms are right in line. They said continue with fluids and medicate when her temp is over 102 to avoid spiking. They said the ER nurse was wrong, they have been seeing children w/fevers as high as 106. I normally do not medicate fevers under 103 and take into consideration how the child is acting/feeling in addition to the temp number (my children tend to run high fevers - of course, I do not leave them to suffer.). But after seeing how high her temps have been spiking I am watching and medicating when over 102 even when she says she is alright.

Our ped's office normally says do not bring into the office unless the fever lasts over five days - and it never has in the past. However, today she told me if her fevers are still over 102 by Monday morning (day 4), bring her in. The fever has been constant but she is feeling better. I am also giving her vitC, D3, elderberry syrup, and zinc. Today she ate very little (granola, grapes, cauliflower w/vinaigrette, and a spoonful or peanut butter and cashew butter) but tonight I sent my husband out for guacamole from her favorite Mexican restaurant... she is eating all of it!


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## sk8boarder15 (Jan 12, 2010)

At this point I would still think it was just the flu. She probably wouldn't play at all if it was pneumonia. I had pneumonia a few years ago and could barely function. It takes your o2 levels down a lot and makes it even hard to walk. The nursing is probably helping her a lot. All I could keep down was juice, water and popsicles when I got sick. :/ I would look into some teas that could help her cough.


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## One_Girl (Feb 8, 2008)

I think it depends on whether you gave her medicine to bring the fever down or not. My dd had strep then pneumonia within a few days of each other and she made a recovery for a couple days then spiraled into a fever that kept climbing each time the medicine wore off and she had a cough with the fever. She was pretty happy once the ibuprofen brought her fever down and was able to play and eat at the same level she does when she has a cold. I only brought her in to the doctor because kept going up and reached 104 so the nurse said I should have her rechecked. I am glad I did because the pneumonia was caught quickly. I think if you are worried it is pneumonia you should take her in and have her checked out so you can have peace of mind.


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## eepster (Sep 20, 2006)

I something is telling you that this is more than flu, listen to that. Don't ignore you instincts.


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## Llyra (Jan 16, 2005)

If you have doubt, get it checked out. Seriously. DD2 had flu last year, that ran to pneumonia, and then she picked up a nasty tertiary lung infection on top of the first pneumonia-- we left it untreated for too long, thinking it was still just the flu we were dealing with. I would be cautious about that, and want someone with more experience to listen to her lungs, if I thought there was a chance a DC was developing a secondary pneumonia.


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## pianojazzgirl (Apr 6, 2006)

So it's been 7 days of fever, started to get better now feeling worse again with a chesty cough? I think I would take her in to be checked out - have the HCP do a listen to her lungs.


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## cycle (Nov 18, 2004)

After this many days of being sick and you are feeling like something is off why haven't you taken her into the doctor? If you even think it could be something more than the flu why not take her?


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## dbsam (Mar 3, 2007)

BellaClaudia,

I posted previously about my daughter having similar symptoms and the doctor saying to bring her in if her fever lasts more than four days. Just wanted to let you know that today she was fever free. I spoke with other parents whose children have had a similar virus and they said their children's fevers were gone at day three or four. Like pp's mentioned, I would take your daughter in to see a doctor just to make sure all is fine.


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