You might be thinking you just found the holy grail of swine flu. Yes, there are treatments for swine, but surprise! They’re essentially the same as treating any other flu. Thus far swine flu symptoms have been more pronounced in children and teenagers, and it is more dangerous for that group of people. Here are 5 things the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends as treatments for swine flu, geared towards children and teenagers.

1. Use medicines without aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) to relieve symptoms. These include acetaminophen and ibuprofen, which can be found in many OTC drugs.

2. Children under 4 shouldn’t be given any medications, whether OTC or not, until consulting a doctor.

3.

American Academy of Pediatrics and FDA agreed that there is not enough scientific evidence regarding safety and efficacy of cold and cough medications in children. Therefore, most of the over-the counter products were taken off your super market’s shelf. You might wonder about what else is out there to treat cold symptoms of your child.

What to expect when your child has a cold

Statistically speaking, cold symptoms are the worse on days 3 and 4. After day 5, you should expect to see some improvement daily. It is not unusual to have a fever even with a plain cold. However, fever should resolve after 3 days.

Cold Treatment in Infants

Water down her formula to help decrease mucus. You can elevate her head of bed to help with breathing when the infant has nasal congestion. Small children should not use pillows. However, you may slide something under the mattress (i.e. pillow, rolled up blanket, or a telephone book) to keep her head elevated at night. A vaporizer by the bedside and saline nasal spray will help to battle nasal congestion. Saline solution is a salty water, thus it is very safe to use as many times as your infant’s nose needs it. Children younger than 3 months should be evaluated for fevers by your health care provider as soon as possible.

Cold Treatment in Older Children

Clear fluids are crucial, especially when the child runs a fever. Chicken soup daily will help with nasal congestion, will break up mucus in the respiratory system, and will decrease mucus production.

Children over 12 moths of age can be given honey for coughs, 1 teaspoon three times a day or at bedtime if cough control is desired at night time only. Research shows that honey has better cough suppressing qualities than dextromethorphan found in most over-the-couter cough suppressants. Extra pillow, vaporizer and saline nasal spray will work as well! For aches and pains or fever you can use Tylenol as needed.

If your efforts to make the cold better fail, your child gets worse, or you are concerned, talk to your health care provider right away!

It would be a tremendous understatement to say there are many people currently worrying about the outbreak of swine flu over the world. While it has not reached the levels of a pandemic, it is an incredibly serious flu virus that can caused fatalities if not isolated and treated in time. Proper medical treatment is therefore not pursued. You should know the three main flu symptoms.

The swine flu often mimics the same symptoms of the traditional flu. However, the swine flu symptoms will become progressively far worse than the traditional flu. Since it starts out in the early stages in a manner that is identical to the flu, it is ignored at first. That is why it is necessary to pay very strict attention to the symptoms and develop a feel for their worsening. Fevers, coughs, and sore throats are possible red flags. If these symptoms are not present then it would be highly doubtful that the individual would have the swine flu. (Also, a simple cold could easily be treated with basic flu remedies) The potential for the presence of the swine flu increases significantly, Conversely if the person did exhibit these conditions.

When the aforementioned flu like symptoms are accompanied by myalgia, this is an incredibly significant red flag. For those not familiar with what myalgia is, it refers to a serious intense pain that creates perpetual aches in the muscle(s). The levels of this pain will vary from person to person. It can be a dull aching sensation or it can be a chronic pain that can reach levels of debilitation. Regardless of the intensity of the pain, it is necessary to take it as a warning sign related to potential swine flu symptoms.

The most alarming and dangerous symptom is Dyspnea. Anyone that is showing the signs of this particular symptom will need more than flu remedies. The individual will need to visit an emergency as soon as possible. Dyspnea entails is a condition where a person suffers from severe labored breathing. It may be possible for one to suffer from catastrophic respiratory and heart related problems if he is dealing with shortness of breath. Swine flu may be likely when these three symptoms are present.

Let us remind you once more that these are crucial symptoms that absolutely warrant a visit to the doctor. Swine flu is a serious condition and should not be taken lightly. That is why it is critical to keep an eye out for these three flu symptoms.