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PrintDr. Dad: Coping With Stomach Flu
It had been a fitful February night. I’d heard Greta, age 7, in the bathroom at least three times since midnight. Jane mumbled something about an exam she had to give to her students, our daughter having diarrhea, and how much she appreciated me as she padded off to the shower.
The reality of spending the day at home taking care of a sick child began to sink in as the wan, mid-winter light filtered in through the window, slowly clearing my lingering mental haziness.
Thankfully, Jack was feeling fine. Sitting on the floor of his bedroom in his underwear, he was organizing Pokémon cards, a tactic commonly-employed on school mornings to drive his parents insane. Threatening to confiscate Charizard, his most prized and powerful card, was enough to get him dressed, downstairs for breakfast and off to the bus stop just in time.
If there is vomiting to be done, particularly by children, volume capacity of the receptacle (woefully lacking in traditional hospital or clinic emesis basins) is a key consideration. So is readily available access. Despite these preparations and professional experience, my deep loathing of vomiting, with all its inherent smells, textures and sounds remained undeniable. None of this mattered. Suddenly, Greta’s eyes opened and she was upright in an instant. I knew, without a doubt, nothing was going to stop this process. Quickly, I grabbed the empty bucket and maneuvered it deftly under her mouth. Being so close, however, I woefully underestimated the factor of force and its associated corollary: splatter. More on this later.
Common among children in the winter and spring months, gastroenteritis is usually the result of a viral infection. Rotavirus and Norwalk virus are among the most common causative agents and they are highly transmissible from person to person. Symptoms include diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, fever, abdominal cramping and malaise. Most cases resolve within 48 hours, but occasionally symptoms can last up to one week. The virus is spread primarily by fecal-oral transmission, making good hand washing a key component to limiting the spread of the infection.
Treatment focuses on the prevention of dehydration, giving the child clear liquids such as Pedialyte, diluted Gatorade, chicken broth or oral rehydration solutions (see the World Health Organization’s own recipe at www.who.int) to maintain hydration. Concerning signs of dehydration include cracked lips and dry mouth, lack of tears with crying, decreased or absent urination, confusion and lethargy. Medical evaluation should occur promptly if dehydration is suspected.
After Greta had finished and I had scoured the splatter off my face with an entire bottle of liquid soap, I looked at my watch and calculated that in 18 to 24 hours, I was going to need an ice cream bucket of my own. I was right.
Til next time.
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