Does my kid have COVID-19 or just a cold? A pediatric nurse explains how to tell – and why it matters
Keeping children home from school if they have COVID-19 protects family and school community members at high risk of serious illness.
Seasonal illnesses like the cold, COVID-19, RSV, and the flu are common during fall and winter. With similar symptoms, telling them apart can be difficult, especially as cold and flu season overlaps with allergy season. If your child develops symptoms like a cough, runny nose, or sore throat, you may wonder whether they should stay home from school.
As a pediatric nurse practitioner, it's essential to send a sick child to school, which can prolong recovery and spread the illness to classmates and school staff. Certain infections, such as COVID-19, flu, and RSV, can have severe consequences for some children and their families who have underlying health conditions.
COVID-19 has a higher risk of severe or long-term health effects compared to the flu, RSV, and the common cold. Symptoms of COVID-19 last longer, up to 7-14 days, and may include body aches, shortness of breath, headache, fatigue, fever, and loss of taste and/or smell. RSV symptoms resemble those of a cold but can cause serious lung infections, particularly in infants and toddlers, with symptoms lasting three to four weeks.
The flu symptoms appear suddenly, similar to COVID-19, except they lack loss of taste or smell. Flu symptoms typically last 3-7 days. Colds have milder symptoms, including coughing, sneezing, sore throat, and runny nose, which usually improve within 7-10 days.
To prevent the spread of these respiratory diseases, keep your child home from school if they have symptoms that affect their ability to participate in classroom activities. If they've had a fever in the past 24 hours, or have diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting, they should stay home and rest.
While a home COVID-19 test can help you determine if your child has the virus, a negative result does not rule out the infection entirely. A positive result is reliable, but a negative result may be inaccurate due to test error or low viral load. If symptoms persist, follow up with your healthcare provider, who may order a PCR test for a more accurate diagnosis.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends vaccinations for COVID-19, the flu, and RSV for all children over the age of 6 months unless there's a medical reason not to receive the vaccine. Although children can still get infected after vaccination, it reduces their risk of severe illness and hospitalization, as well as the number of missed school days. If your child is vaccinated, their immune system will respond more effectively if they become infected.
Written by urgent.news from The Conversation's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
