If your son or daughter experiences any of the following symptoms, which could signal an infectious disease, your pediatrician will want to see you and your child:
- Decreased appetite
- Delayed growth
- Fever that lasts for several days or weeks with no apparent reason
- Irritability and restlessness
- Overall muscle aches and pains, along with fever
- Pain in a specific area
- Recurrent infections
- Swollen lymph nodes
- Weight loss
Other symptom groups to watch for—signs your pediatrician will want to know about—include the following:
- Watery diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, fever, stomach cramps, muscle aches and pains, headache
- Stiff jaw, neck and other muscles, irritability, convulsions, jaw and neck muscle spasms
- Fever, coughing, sore throat, red eyes, rash, white spots on inside of cheeks, sneezing
- Swollen lymph nodes in neck, rash on body and neck, high fever
- Cough followed by high-pitched whooping sound, congestion, sneezing, decreased appetite, watery eyes, difficulty breathing
- Fever, weakness, swollen and painful salivary glands
- Pain and tingling after an animal bite, difficulty swallowing, drooling, moods alternating from calmness to rage, convulsions
- Diarrhea, weight loss, fever, shortness of breath, cough, swollen lymph nodes
If you find any of the above symptoms in your child, call your pediatrician to discuss the possibility of an infectious disease. Your child will likely receive further testing and may be referred to a Rainbow specialist.