What to Do About Recurring Illnesses

Bottom line? Your child may not have strep at all. The symptoms of strep throat can mimic other common illnesses, like COVID-19, a cold, or even the flu.

Advice for Parents

If your child is diagnosed with strep throat, ask for a 10-day course of antibiotics, and make sure they take all of it. "Studies have shown that a seven-day course of penicillin is much less likely to eradicate the strep germ than is a 10-day course," says Richard J. Schmidt, MD, a fellow in pediatric otolaryngology at the Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware.

When strep keeps coming back with a vengeance, some doctors are suggesting an old standby: tonsillectomy. Repeat infections can create pockets of hard-to-kill bacteria on the tonsils.

Pneumonia

Kids who get sick again and again with pneumonia often have an underlying condition prompting the illness—for example, acid reflux14 or asthma. Pneumonia is the inflammation of the lung sacs caused by a bacterial or viral infection. "In a pneumonia infection, the air sacs become

 filled with pus and may become solid," says Dr. Madhankumar. Pneumonia is spread by droplets of infected fluid, and it can be contagious before symptoms begin.

The most common symptoms of pneumonia include aches and pain in the chest when coughing or inhaling air, chills and fever, and a cough that produces phlegm.

What's Normal

Getting it once.

What's Not Normal

Two bouts in one year, or three or more during childhood.

Why Your Child Might Be Vulnerable to Pneumonia

Recurring pneumonia could be a sign of an underlying illness such as asthma, gastroesophageal reflux, cystic fibrosis, neurological problems, or an immune deficiency, says Raj Padman, MD, chief of the division of pulmonology at the Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children.

Sometimes, the cause is just a tiny item—a candy or a bead—that has been accidentally breathed into the lungs and remains lodged there. But some cases of repeat pneumonia have no known cause.