How to Treat Bird Flu in Kids

Should the unforeseen happen and one of your kids gets a case of the bird flu, it is important that you take prompt action to have a doctor treat it. Children, like the elderly and adults with weak immune systems, are more likely to contract a case of the bird flu that causes serious complications and possibly death. Read on to learn how to treat bird flu in kids.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Physician
• Flu shot
• Prescription medications

1. Know what to look for in terms of symptoms. This is especially important because kids are often unable to precisely communicate what exactly is wrong when they feel ill. A case of the bird flu may result in nothing more than an eye infection that looks like conjunctivitis (pink eye). Or, it may invoke fever, headache, coughing, body aches and muscle soreness. Treat the presence of any of these symptoms as suspicious.
2. Bring your child to your doctor or pediatrician as quickly as possible if you detect symptoms of the bird flu. It is of the utmost importance to act quickly to get medical care when dealing with viral illnesses, as most anti-viral drugs have an efficacy window of only two days after the onset of symptoms.
3. Have your doctor perform a physical examination of your child and perform a simple test to see if your child has contracted an influenza virus. Remember, though, that the in-office test used cannot specify whether it is the avian influenza or another strain of the flu. If your child's symptoms worsen even though your doctor diagnosed a regular case of the common flu, go to the emergency room.
4. Allow your doctor to administer whatever anti-viral medications are safe for your child to use. Children with a history of medical problems may make poor candidates to use certain anti-viral drugs, so be sure to brief your doctor on your child's medical history if you are seeing someone other than your regular physician or pediatrician.
5. See that your child gets plenty of rest and consumes plenty of liquid as she recovers from the bird flu. For the most part, it is treated the same way as the more prevalent strains of flu virus, except in emergency cases.

Tips & Warnings

• See if your physician agrees that inoculating your kids with a flu shot is a good idea, given their present age and health. It can help protect against them catching the avian influenza. Though it is by no means foolproof protection, it is a wise decision to have your kids get a flu shot before traveling to China or Southeast Asia, where the disease is most common.