Newswise — Maywood, Ill. – Most parents are all too familiar with the equation school + kids = sick days. With more than 200 cold viruses it’s no wonder parents feel like they are fighting a losing battle when it comes to keeping their kids healthy.
“Kids will be exposed to germs and inevitably get colds, even with the best preventive measures, and that’s OK,” said Jessica McIntyre, MD, family physician at Loyola University Health System and assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.
According to McIntyre, young children will get about 7-8 colds a year and school-age children will average 5-6 colds a year. Kids tend to get more colds during the school year because they are in an enclosed classroom surrounded by other children who are sharing these very common viruses.
“Parents sometimes worry that they have done something wrong to cause frequent colds, or that their child is not healthy. Actually, cold viruses help build a child’s immune system and are an unavoidable part of growing up,” McIntyre said.
She does offer some tips to help keep illness to a minimum.
1. Your kids know their ABCs but what about their CCCs?a. Clean – wash your hands and make sure your kids wash their hands frequentlyb. Cover – cover your cough and sneeze, preferably with a tissue, but if one is not available, cough or sneeze into your elbowc. Contain – stay at home if you are sick; germs are one thing that aren’t good to share
2. Family flu vaccines. Everyone who is 6 months or older should be vaccinated. Talk to your physician about which type of vaccine is right for your family members.
3. Have your children wash their hands as soon as they get home from school and consider having them change into “home clothes.” This is especially beneficial if you have a young infant at home.
4. There is some evidence that certain complementary products can be effective in cold prevention if taken regularly.a. Probiotics: 1 gram mixed with milk twice dailyb. Vitamin C: 1 gram dailyc. Zinc sulfate: 15 mg syrup or 10 mg tablet daily
“Being exposed to the germs that cause colds and diarrheal illness during childhood is very important in order to develop solid immunity against these viruses. Because kids normally develop this immunity early on, by the time they are teenagers they usually only experience about four colds per year,” said McIntyre. “Viral illnesses are going to happen, just be prepared to offer lots of snuggles to help your children get through the inevitable colds.”
Media: Please contact Evie Polsley at [email protected] or call (708) 216-5313 or (708) 417-5100 for more information. Follow Loyola on: Facebook: www.facebook.com/loyolahealthTwitter: http://twitter.com/LoyolaHealth YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/LoyolaHealth#p/u### Loyola University Health System (LUHS) is a member of Trinity Health. Based in the western suburbs of Chicago, LUHS is a quaternary care system with a 61-acre main medical center campus, the 36-acre Gottlieb Memorial Hospital campus and more than 30 primary and specialty care facilities in Cook, Will and DuPage counties. The medical center campus is conveniently located in Maywood, 13 miles west of the Chicago Loop and 8 miles east of Oak Brook, Ill. The heart of the medical center campus, Loyola University Hospital, is a 569-licensed-bed facility. It houses a Level 1 Trauma Center, a Burn Center and the Ronald McDonald® Children's Hospital of Loyola University Medical Center. Also on campus are the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, Loyola Outpatient Center, Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine and Loyola Oral Health Center as well as the LUC Stritch School of Medicine, the LUC Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing and the Loyola Center for Fitness. Loyola's Gottlieb campus in Melrose Park includes the 255-licensed-bed community hospital, the Professional Office Building housing 150 private practice clinics, the Adult Day Care, the Gottlieb Center for Fitness, Loyola Center for Metabolic Surgery and Bariatric Care and the Loyola Cancer Care & Research at the Marjorie G. Weinberg Cancer Center at Melrose Park.
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