to rule out COVID-19 by getting your child tested.
“You don’t want to be responsible for more community spread,” Dr. Deborah Liu, associate director of emergency medicine at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles says.
She recommends getting a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, which usually provides results in about 24 hours.
“It is difficult to distinguish between COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses,” Liu adds. “It’s hard enough for health care providers. Getting tested to determine if it’s COVID-19 or not is something we should advocate for.”
READ: Worse Than Flu: Protecting Your Baby This Season From RSV
How do you treat RSV?
Most kids can recover from RSV at home. There is no medicine to treat the virus, but there are several ways to ease symptoms.
For a stuffy nose, use a saline spray and a bulb to suction out the mucus. A humidifier may help soothe respiratory passages. If your older child is coughing a lot, prop his or her head with a pillow.
“For most viruses, the management is the same: Stay home, stay well-hydrated, get lots of sleep and take acetaminophen or ibuprofen for fever,” Liu says.