Fall and winter mark the peak season for common respiratory infections such as COVID-19; respiratory syncytial virus , or RSV; influenza, better known as the flu ; and the common cold . These illnesses often begin with symptoms that look very similar, so telling them apart can be tricky - especially when the beginning of cold and flu season in the fall can be the tail end of summer seasonal allergies.
Author
- Ann Sheehan
Assistant Dean for Practice, Innovation, and Professional Education and Associate Professor of Nursing, Michigan State University
So if your child comes down with symptoms like a cough, runny nose or sore throat, should you keep them home?
As a primary care pediatric nurse practitioner , I help families make informed decisions about this question and other aspects of their child's health.
Sending your child to school when they are sick can make recovery longer and spread illness to classmates and school staff. And all of these common infections can have serious consequences for some members of the school community - or their families - who have underlying health conditions that raise the risk of complications.
Parsing symptoms of common bugs
Figuring out whether your child has COVID-19, the flu, RSV or the common cold is important because some of these illnesses can cause serious complications in certain children.
COVID-19 has a higher risk of severe or long-term health effects. The others are not harmless, however. The flu can cause significant illness and hospitalization, and RSV can be especially serious for infants, young children and those with chronic health conditions.
