Upper Respitory Infection

Dear Ask The Doctor: My one year old has a uri and hes been running a fever for about 3 days. i took him to the er and the doctor said to let it run its course.ive been giving him motrin and tylenol but it doesnt seem to help. what should i do?

Dear Amanda: Hello, I realize how concerned you are about your son’s health. Certainly viruses are the most common entities causing upper respiratory infections and fever in infants.  The process of this type of infections usually last for a week or two and the only treatment necessary is symptomatic.

The most important issue is to control the temperature, since infants at this age tend to seize when temperatures are high and for long periods of time, I will suggest you to double check his temperature and if it’s around 102 to 104F bath him in lukewarm water, keep him in light clothes and give him Children’s Tylenol. However if the fever does not remit by the next day you might want to consult his Pediatrician to rule out other possibilities such as bacterial infections of the ear or respiratory system. Give him plenty of fluids to improve the dehydration caused by fever. I wish him a prompt recovery.