My little boy is poorly..... doctor said it’s all viral?

[Emz2019]

Yesterday my child woke up poorly, a high temperature and feeling off colour, by mid afternoon he had fallen asleep twice, when he woke up from his second nap the whites of his eyes were very red, both of them! He wasn’t complaining about them but it didn’t look normal, his temp was high still even though he had been having Medicine so I decided a quick trip to the GP was in order, the GP diagnosed...... viral conjunctivitis, viral tonsillitis, viral upper respiratory infection, his throat was inflamed and red along with the tonsils but no pus, his eyes were red, but no pus, then to top it off he tells me the lymph glands in the neck are large.... says it’s all viral and common I. Children under 5. ok so he sends me off with a scrip for eye drops 🤔. Tells me to keep him topped up with calpol and drinks. I sit wondering really all those things show up on the same day but are not connected to each other? How can this be? So today he’s poorly still, woke up at around 8am had calpol and a drink and been asleep since. His eyes still red, no pus still.... do I go for a second opinion?

If you aren't happy definitely push for a second opinion! Follow your gut. Even if it turns out the doc was right.

One thing you need to look for is - is his temperature coming down at all with medicine?

Being viral doesn’t mean he isn’t ill. It just means he’s not in need of antibiotics. Just Calpol, fluids and lots of rest. It’s not a dismissive thing to say- just that ABx wouldn’t make a difference.

He’s also been ill for 48 hours. The eye drops and the Calpol will make him comfortable while the body fights the viral infection. It might take up to a week for the infection to clear. As long as he’s having fluids and his temperature is coming down with medicine he’s probably fine. He’s sleeping because he’s tired. It’s what we also do when we are unwell.

As KoshaMangsho says. He wasn’t being dismissive, just saying it’s likely to be viral rather than bacterial and therefore wouldn’t respond to antibiotics. They are just different types of infections, one is not ‘worse’ or ‘better’ than the other.
Keep an eye on him, alternate calpol and ibruprofen and lots of rest and fluids. If he doesn’t improve then go back to the GP.

Antibiotics do nothing against virus. In fact giving antibiotics when its a virus is one of the things that causes medications to have no effect

It being a virus doesnt mean these things are unconnected. In fact it all being viral suggests they are connected - they are caused by the same virus.

Anti biotics fight bactitia not viruses

If he has a virus he's still poorly OP. What do you think it is?

If it is antibiotics you're after, they won't help.

Virsus are awful - flu is a virus and then tend to hit everywhere. If there are no signs of bacteria then no need for antibiotics (for now)

He could be ill for a good few days with such a nasty virus

Viruses can take a week or so to leave the system thats why hes still poorly

He'd still be poorly if he had medication a it wouodnt work anyway its a virus b they need time to work

Of course it can all be viral. You can seek a second opinion but no doctor will prescribe antibiotics for a viral infection because it won’t help (may even make him worse).

When we were children nearly every visit to the GP resulted in antibiotics whereas now Drs are (rightly) more careful. The truth is that we can get better from even most bacterial infections without the help of antibiotics. We need to change our way of thinking, the vast majority of the time antibiotics won’t help.

All those symptoms are likely caused by the same virus.

Hope he gets better soon OP. Viruses can be nasty.

Sounds viral to me, so they're right-that's self care.

Of course you can be ill with a virus. Ebola's a virus isn't it? So is HIV and plenty of other killers.

@Witchend “Ebola’s a virus isn’t it? So is HIV and plenty of other killers”

I have to correct you here...Yes, Ebola is still a deadly virus, but including HIV as one is incorrect nowadays - especially in the western world. Advances in HIV medications have turned the infection from a killer into a chronic disease. Once diagnosed we can all expect to live long and happy lives.
www.hivplusmag.com/long-term-survivors/2019/1/22/meet-100-year-old-man-living-hiv-watch

Sorry to derail OP and I hope your little boy feels better soon. There seems to be loads of different viruses going around atm and I know it must be quite frustrating to not have a name to put to this one. In general viruses can affect different parts of the body, not just one, hence the enflamed tonsils, red eyes etc.

How old is he?

Sounds exactly like the viral infection I've been recovering from, tbh. Eye drops would have been a good idea, I'll remember that next time (if I can through the fever).

Not sure what your question is, OP. There's nothing much to be done for a virus like this except look after the poor sick kid, give him plenty of rest and appropriate dosage of paracetamol (calpol) to bring the fever down a bit. He'll fight it off in a week or so but he'll be miserable while he's ill. There's no magic bullet, no pills like antibiotics for non-threatening viruses like this. Antivirals make a right mess of the body so are only used in serious infections.