What's Going Around
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Updated: 10:55 AM Feb 9, 2010
What's Going Around
Local doctors explain what they're seeing in their offices this week.
Posted: 11:50 AM Feb 8, 2010
Reporter: Lauren Evans
Email Address: lauren.evans@wilx.com
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We start off in Lansing, where Dr. Thomas Stout at Mount Hope Community Medical Center says upper respiratory infections are going around.

Symptoms include: cough, wheezing, fever, facial pressure, headache, dental pain and swollen lymph nodes.

To treat an upper respiratory infection, rest, and drink a lot of fluids.

Take Tylenol for fever and headache, and try throat lozenges for sore throat.

Use a humidifier and take warm showers, as moist, warm air can help.

See a doctor if symptoms last longer than 7 to 10 days, or if you have discolored mucus.

Ear infections are keeping Dr. James Brouillette at Ingham Primary Care in Okemos busy this week.

The biggest symptom is ear pain.

Kids may also tug or pull at their ears, or cry more than usual.

Other symptoms include: sleeplessness, irritability, fever of 100 degrees or higher, and headache.

Children may not respond to sounds, and may develop a clear fluid that drains from the ears.

Ear infections are hard to detect in very young children, but watch out for sleeplessness and irritability in kids under two after an upper respiratory infection like a cold.

You can give your child over-the-counter pain relievers like Tylenol, and place a warm washcloth over the ear.

Make sure kids get plenty of rest.

Call a doctor if signs and symptoms last longer than a day, if the child is younger than six months, or if you see a discharge of blood or pus coming from the ear.

That could mean the child has a ruptured eardrum.

Don't give aspirin to anyone younger than age 16, due to the risk of Reye's Syndrome, a rare but serious condition.

Giving over-the-counter cough or cold medications is also not recommended for children age two and younger.


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