Son is sick, is it the flu?

Question

My son (14) came home from school yesterday very tired and feverish. He slept until about 9 pm, threw up, then drank some water, and went back to sleep until morning. This morning he didn't get up for school when his alarm went off, so I went in to ask him if he wanted to stay home and he said yes. And I knew he really needed to because he is very though and never gets sick.

So anyways, today, he slept until about 12 i think. He complained about a headache, he has a fever of 103.6, felt sick to his stomach, threw up about 3 times, was coughing a lot, and felt very tired and just overall achey. Is it the flu? Should I take him to the doctors, or will it just pass?

Thank you

Answer 1

give the appropriate dose of tylenol for the fever/aches & pains.  make sure to get enough fluid in him so as not to dehydrate.  the flu is running wild in our area right now, lucky for everyone our "version" is a short lived 24-48 hr.  i would try and make him comfortable now, lots of fluids and tylenol.  i would wait a day or so before making an appt.  does your dr have a nurse line? i call our nurses all the time. they will help decide if you are doing the right thing and wait it out , or if they think he should be seen.

Answer 2

It is the flu. You should take him to the doctors if he has all of those symptoms unless they pass.

Answer 3

Give him the appropriate dose of Tylenol to bring the fever down.  If his symptoms don't get better by tomorrow then I'd call the doctor.  Just make sure he will take some broth or juice if he is throwing up so he doesn't get dehydrated.  If that happens it will only exasperate the other symptoms.

Answer 4

I would guess that he has a 24-hour stomach virus.  The headache is probably from dehydration, since he has been vomiting.    Viral infections sometimes cause fairly high fevers, but are not serious.   It might be difficult to get his fever down, if he can't keep anything in his stomach.  Wait for a couple of hours since his last episode of vomiting before giving him Tylenol.

You might want to call the doctor's office and describe his symptoms, just in case they feel they should see him.   If he has a sore throat, he may have strep, and in that case they would want you to bring him in.

Hope he feels better!