3.5yr old episode of high temp, laboured breathing. Diagnosis help

[BoBo90]

Hi all,

My little boy is just over 3.5yrs. He has had two chest infections (nov19,mar20) which resulted in hospital stays and being on oxygen. He hasn’t had to be admitted but he continuously gets episodes of high temp over 39, lethargy, laboured breathing and going pale with a blue tinge around the mouth and eyes (we check his sats to make sure he doesn’t need to see gp/go to a&e and although it can drop below 95 it’s not going too low or staying low). He usually has a cough too but it’s not always the main symptom.

Currently he has an inhaler as dr suspected asthma which we agreed with but since then he has had yet another episode (4th this year) where out of nowhere his temperature shoots up and then he gets tired and clingy and you can see he’s having trouble breathing but it’s not bad enough to be admitted.

I have no idea what this could be! I’ve googled but nothing fits and although it seems like asthma the high temperatures don’t really suggest that. As it’s recurring it’s getting a bit worrying! Any experience of similar or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

How long does it last ? What about the temperature? Are you giving any antipyretic?

The fever gives the indication there's an underlying virus or bacteria which could be different every episode he's had. The laboured breathing I would also link to an infection and the fever.

One thing to consider is bronchomalacia as an underlying condition as opposed to asthma. Infection with underlying bronchomalacia makes any virus or bug alot more difficult to deal with. It also makes every day mucus and secretions more difficult to handle.

Typically they say bronchomalacia is generally diagnosed at infancy, my son was diagnosed with asthma in infancy and tried every medication to help but nothing worked.

It wasn't until he had his t's and A's done and they monitored his obs post op that they noted his sats were 85-92% and they said that even with asthma that's not normal so did a bronchoscopy and diagnosed bronchomalacia at 8yo.