nhs symptom checker not for under 5's.so how do you know if just a cold etc or swine flu?

[cheesesarnie]

ds2 has had runny nose,watery eyes,high temp(on and off),general whingyness and clingyness that he gets when ill,sore tummy and bit dazed,pale and more sleepy than normal for a few days.hes 3.he can be fine for a few hours and then poorly.the nhs sypmtom checker says not to use for under 5's so do i phone nhs direct or do you think just a common cold?they must be getting huge amount of phone calls and i dont want to waste their time if i dont need too.hes also asthmatic

We had this. DH took dd (8 months) to the doctor and he diagnosed swine flu. She also vomited though. Seems fine today!

Hard to know if it really is or whether they are diagnosing everything that would otherwise be classed as a heavy cold or bug as SF.

The truth is you just don't know. It's very hard. My DS1 had same as your son, temp, cold, runny poos, but that was 7 days ago and nobody else got it in the family, so I have to assume that it was just a cold. If it would have been swine flu, one of us would have also had symptoms by now.

If he is asthmatic, you should call your GP streight away and find out what the out of hour GP phone number is. He is in the 'at risk' group and you should call immediatly.

ok.what do they do if it is swine flu?

Gave us tamiflu and told us to keep her in isolation.

Not the case Blueberry - I know someone whose dd had her case of SF confirmed with a swab test a few weeks ago and the rest of the family didn't get it.

Rest of the family here fine too - so far!

oh bum so i should phone out of hours doc?hes playing with playdoh quite happily at the moment,winding up his brother and sister.

They will ask you questions about the symptoms, offer advice on how to deal with it if it's a positive diagnosis, and offer Tamiflu. But they don't know for sure - the only way to know for absolutly certain is to be swabbed but they don't do this anymore.

Tamiflu is most effective if given as early as possible after the symptoms have appeared. But it's always your choice, you don't have to take the tamiflu. It apparently reduced the symptoms and lenght of the illness, but it's not a 'cure' - anyway, that's what they told me, but you should speak to them about it as obviously I'm not qualified!

They might give you specific advice on the asthma, which is what they did with DS (he had wheezing attacks last winter) they gave him a repeat prescription for salbutamol and told me how often to give it to him. I didn't give him the Tamiflu because the symptoms were mild. Now anyway, because nobody else got it in the family we assume that it wasn't swine flu after all.

Obviously, you would have to stay at home, so stack up on a few groceries in case you get it as well!

If he's happy and you're happy, then there's no need to call them at all!

Is that really true about nobody else getting symptoms? I thought that would would at least get a little something, cough or fever or something. That throws my theory out the window now... so does that mean that we are now somehow 'immune' to it (a bit) or that we can still get it from somewhere else????
So many questions...

now hes gone all poorly again.this is what confuses me!!

What do you give him? When you say poorly, do you mean sick or fever?

calpol for the fever.gone feverish,whingy and sleepy again.

How long has he been feeling like that?

It's hard, I don't want to give you advice because I'm not qualified, but have you tried ibuprophen? Get this confirmed at pharmacy or with this GP please, but you can I believe alternate between paracetamol-based medicine (like calpol) and ibuprophen, so that you can control the fever better but PLEASE confirm that with a professional first.

he cant have ibruprofen as he has a reaction.since last monday on and off,if its been that long it must be ok i think.at the start of the week it was more just high temp and bit drowsy as the weeks gone on hes got the other symptoms.

Since Monday is quite a long time. How is his asthma? Under control? Maybe you should speak to someome, but you will have to be patient because the phone lines are so busy all the time.

asthma has been fine. i will phone i think just to put my mind at rest.thanks.

hes now on tamiflu with suspected swine flu.grr.

thanks for advice!

Hope everything better today? read your post with interest as same as my DD, she seemed to be getting better then much worse on Sunday, high temp, yesterday vomiting and falling asleep constantly so doc gave her tamiflu too...not that she will take it! Woke up today bright as a button just a little snotty and coughing! Hopefully thats the worst over.

oh dear!hope shes better soon.
ds has been up since 3am(yawn) but before that he was quite wheezy etc.today hes still much the same,playing a bit,poorly abit.

it is a pain to get the tamiflu in them isnt it!!how old is your dd?

Hi, DD is 4 only reason I contacted doc was cos she fell into the 'at risk' group. Doc advised the tamiflu but to be honest she hasnt really taken the 3 doses I have tried so far! the first she chewed up and spat out, the second I opened the capsule and put in a spoonful of jam, she said ''yuk''! the 3rd this morning I tried in yoghurt but she spat that out too!
DD was wheezy in the night too last night, just snotty and coughy today. Good luck with your little one X

im probably doing it all wrong but im just emptying it onto spoon and giving it to himhe can still taste it mixed with things and was spitting it out so i decided might as weell just not mix it and get him to wash it down with a drink.

Hi I read this and was wondering about my DC's to and whether to phone up.

DH had cough, sore throat and sneezing on Friday, DD had it on Saturday and still does including runny nose, DS (2) and I have it today. Now according to NHS DH and I have swine flu but as DH is over it and better and DD (4) is getting better i'm guessing whatever it is we're getting over it.

Saying that we've felt worse just after easter when we were all in bed but the doctor just said it was colds without testing or anything. So I suppose after all this waffling it means just waiting till the pandemic is over and hoping for the best. I just wish I knew whether we've had it or not. As some one posted earlier I'd like to phone NHS but I don't want to waste their time.

hiya, just htoughti'd link to my post here, as I have been wondering what the hell dd has got. PLus some similar symptoms.

my post yesterday

Thanks cheesesarnie will try that, she prob wont take it but worth a try!
Paranoidmother, even if you get through to nhs they will prob refer you to gp to get tamiflu and nobody being tested anymore anyway so we will never know if we or our kids have had swine flu or just another virus!
ipiratethief, read your post, v similar to my dd but dragging on a bit? think swine flu reacts differently with everyone, my dd has had 2 bad days but ok today, wont let her out yet though.

My doctor has said that basically if they have high temp 38+ and two other symptoms then they are being treated as swine flu cases.