Stomach Flu in Toddlers

Stomach Flu in Toddlers

The stomach flu, technically known as Gastroenteritis, is an inflammation of the bowel and stomach. It is usually caused by a bacterial or viral infection. A truly miserable condition, it leads to vomiting and Diarrhea for three to five days. Many of us deal with this problem – in fact, it is the second most common illness in the United States (the most common of all is the Common Cold). Most parents can expect their child to get stomach flu a few times a year before the age of three, especially if the child is in daycare. Learn about the signs which show stomach flu in your toddler and how you prevent it from happening. Causes and Symptoms of Stomach Flu in Toddlers
Causes
Stomach flu in toddlers can be caused by many different things, but the most common is an infection of the stomach called rotavirus. This is often spread when a child uses the toilet but then neglects to wash his hands when he’s done. The tiny bits of feces that a child might come into contact with can then be left on utensils, surfaces such as door knobs or tables, and can then be picked up by another child – thus the infection spreads. But it can be even more insidious than that – sometimes miniscule participles of feces can actually be carried on the air, and other children can breathe it in. That means that it can be almost impossible to prevent your child from getting the stomach flu in some situations. Symptoms
You will always be able to tell when your child has contracted this stomach flu. The child will have vomiting, diarrhea, and might also have abdominal pain, chills, general aches and fever. The good news is that sometimes the symptoms are very mild and last for just a few hours. But in most cases, your child can experience three to five days of general yuckiness. Treatments of Stomach Flu in Toddlers
Fortunately, there are plenty of treatments for stomach flu that can make your toddler feel much better. 1. Give Your Toddler the Right Medications
If your baby is really uncomfortable, try acetaminophen or ibuprofen to bring down their fever and help with those little aches and pains. However, always avoid aspirin or anti-diarrheal medications. Aspirin can lead to serious problems for toddlers, and anti-diarrheal medications can actually make gastroenteritis last even longer. 2. Keep Your Toddler Well Hydrated
You can also give your child plenty of fluids to prevent them from being dehydrated. Stick with clear liquids, especially electrolyte solutions, such as Pedialyte. These solutions can help restore the balance of electrolytes that is lost when a child becomes dehydrated. Avoid anything that has high sugar content, as this can actually make them feel worse. 3. Feed Your Toddler the Right Foods
When it comes to food, your child might not be in the mood to eat, and that’s okay – sometimes eating when they have the stomach flu can make them feel even sicker, and can make the illness last longer. When they do eat, give them things like dry toast, popsicles and the like until they are able to tolerate more typical foods again. In some cases, the pediatrician might be able to give your child antibiotics – but this is only if the cause of gastroenteritis is a known bacterial infection. Antibiotics won’t work on stomach flu caused by viruses. How to Prevent Stomach Flu in Toddlers
1. Wash Hands
The best way to prevent stomach flu in toddlers is through proper handwashing. Make sure your child knows to wash their hands before they eat and after they use the bathroom. Encourage friends and family to do the same, and make sure you do as well. 2. Avoid Sharing
You will have to take special precautions when someone in your household has the stomach flu. Wash your hands very often. Disinfect the toilet regularly, including the seat and the handle. Don’t share things like blankets or utensils with someone in the household who has the stomach flu, as this can be an easy way to spread the problem. Make sure that your child has been free of the flu for at least 48 hours before you send them back to school or daycare. 3. Watch Out for Pool Water
Finally, remember that pool water can also spread the most common virus that causes stomach flu in toddlers. Make sure your child avoids the pool for two weeks after an outbreak. If your community is dealing with a severe outbreak of the stomach flu, stay away from the pool altogether until it seems everyone is becoming well again. When to See a Doctor
Most cases of stomach flu in toddlers will resolve in a few days without a call to the doctor; it just takes some care, plenty of fluids and lots of rest to get them over the worst of it. But sometimes a child will become very ill, and that’s when a call to the doctor is warranted. How will you be able to tell when this happens? Your child might have some of the most serious signs of Dehydration, including sunken eyes, wrinkled skin, very dry lips, and decreased urination. The child might be excessively thirsty, but also lethargic enough to not really care about what you offer them to drink. Very young children might be increasingly fussy. Your child might cry without producing any tears or could even have hands and feet that are cool to the touch and discolored. If your child has any of these signs, take them to the emergency room immediately. Severe dehydration is a condition that will require immediate medical intervention in order to ensure a smooth recovery. While you are there, your doctor might do tests to figure out what kind of stomach flu your child has.

Incubation Period for Stomach Flu

Incubation Period for Stomach Flu

Stomach flu or viral Gastroenteritis is an inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract that includes the stomach and the intestines. It is very contagious and affects millions of people every year. Read on to find out all information regarding the incubation period for stomach flu along with the various remedies to ease your discomfort.

What Causes Stomach Flu?
You are very likely to contract stomach flu if you have had some contaminated food or water, or shared your utensils or towels with someone suffering from it. But, what causes it in the first place? Listed below are the major causes that you should be aware of:

1. Virus
Norovirus is the leading cause of stomach gastroenteritis and affects about 50%-70% of people in the world. The other viruses that can cause stomach flu include Rotavirus, Astrovirus, Adenovirus and Sapovirus strains.

2. Bacteria
Bacterial causes of stomach flu include Salmonella, Shigella, Camplyobacter aeromona, and Escherichia coli strains. Occasionally, Clostridium, Vibrio and Yersinia spp. can also cause gastroenteritis amongst people.

3. Parasites
Common parasites that cause gastroenteritis are Giardia, Cryptosporidium and Entamoeba species. However, even Cyclospora can cause an outbreak occasionally.

4. Other causes
Besides infectious agents, there are other causes of gastroenteritis like allergies and toxins. It can even occur as a side effect of many medications, like antibiotics.

What Is the Incubation Period for Stomach Flu?
Many people harbor the virus that causes stomach flu for a time period ranging from 4 hours to 2 days. The difference in the incubation period for stomach flu is mainly dependent on the type of virus that causes it.

1. The Norovirus

• The incubation period for this virus is usually 1 to 3 days, before the symptoms appear.


• The contagious period of the Norovirus ranges from the time the symptoms appear till almost 2 to 3 weeks after the affected person has been cured of stomach flu.


• However, the patient is not contagious during the incubation period of the virus.

2. The Rotavirus

• This virus has an incubation period of 1 to 2 days.


• The patients with this virus are contagious during the incubation period till after 2 weeks of recovery.


• Children are mostly affected by this virus and they may remain contagious for longer periods of time as compared to adults.

3. The Adenovirus
In case of stomach flu caused by adenovirus, the virus stays in the system for usually a week before symptoms first appear. Also, patients are contagious during the incubation period when infected by the adenovirus.

What Happens After the Incubation Period?
You have known the incubation period for stomach flu, but do you know what happens after that period?Once the virus has entered your body, symptoms start appearing after the incubation period. The major symptoms that are seen in stomach flu include severe abdominal cramping that can result in pain, a feeling of nausea and vomiting, and Diarrhea. Some patients also complain of Headaches or fever. A swelling in lymph nodes is noticed in some cases. If you continue vomiting or have diarrhea for a longer duration, it could result in a severe decrease in body fluids level, resulting in Dehydration which can prove fatal.

How to Treat Stomach Flu
Children are more susceptible to contract stomach flu. If you detect any of the above-mentioned symptoms of the disorder, make sure to follow the strategy below:

1. Call the Doctor
After the appearance of the first symptoms of the illness, immediately call your doctor. Besides, you need to seek medical attention if you baby has been vomiting for more than 2 days or has been very fussy, or if you have detected the presence of blood in the stool.

2. Take Medication with Care

• The doctor will prescribe the appropriate antibiotics if your baby is suffering from bacterial gastroenteritis. However, medication is not helpful during a viral gastroenteritis, as viruses need to complete their incubation period and run their course.


• Avoid giving anti-diarrhea medications to your child, as they can only prolong her illness and even cause severe side effects.


• If your child has high fever, consult your doctor before giving her a proper dose of infant acetaminophen or ibuprofen.


• However, always avoid giving your child aspirin, as it can lead to Reye's syndrome, a rare but fatal illness.

3. Stay Hydrated
It is important to increase your fluid intake after the incubation period of stomach flu, especially if you are experiencing vomiting and diarrhea. Adults ideally need to drink one cup of fluid every hour while children need 1 ounce of fluid every 30-60 minutes.

However, drinking water alone may not be enough. You need to replenish the nutrients and the electrolytes that are lost. Consult your doctor before starting your sick child on oral rehydration solutions (ORS), like CerLyte, Infalyte, Naturalyte and Pedialyte. Adults can have diluted fruit juices, sports drinks, clear broths or decaffeinated tea. Avoid caffeinated beverages, alcohol or sugary fluids as they can worsen your vomiting.

4. Choose the Proper Food
For the first a few days, you should only eat liquid foods. Then you can switch into a bland BRAT diet (comprising of bananas, rice, applesauce and toast) which is the most widely used diet in gastroenteritis. But this diet does not provide the necessary fat and protein that your body requires for complete recovery. So after a few days you should opt for foods rich in potassium (bananas, potatoes and fruit juices), salt (soup or pretzels) and yoghurt with active bacterial culture. Even adding a little fat in form of butter or lean meat would help to slow down your digestion and reducing diarrhea.

Food Poisoning vs. Stomach Flu

Food Poisoning vs. Stomach Flu

When you are suffering from symptoms like vomiting and Diarrhea, you may wonder if you are suffering from food poisoning or flu. (The flu here means stomach flu, right? Since there are reallly some big differences between food poisoning and the flu so that you can tell them apart easily.)

Many of the parasites, bacteria and viruses that result in symptoms of stomach flu come from eating bad food. This means that many of the times you have these symptoms, it is from something you ate that was contaminated. But, how can you tell the difference between food poisoning vs flu (stomach flu)?

Food Poisoning vs. Stomach Flu: What're the Similarities and Differences?
Food poisoning and the flu have similar symptoms, which make it challenging to identify the difference between the two. However, they are still different conditions that have many differences.

1. Symptoms
Food Poisoning

The symptoms you get with food poisoning are different, depending on the cause of the contamination. Most common symptoms include the following:

• Ÿ Watery diarrhea


• Ÿ Nausea


• Ÿ Vomiting


• Ÿ Fever


• Ÿ Abdominal pain


• Ÿ Abdominal cramps

You usually begin to get these symptoms within a few hours of eating food that has become contaminated. Some food poisoning symptoms take longer—up to several days or weeks after eating the bad food. The symptoms usually last a few hours but can also last as many as several days.

Stomach Flu

When comparing food poisoning vs flu, you need to know that the two diseases have very similar symptoms. These include having nausea, vomiting, abdominal pains, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea. The symptoms usually last about one day and then you begin to feel better. Less than two percent of flu sufferers ever need to be hospitalized in the US, although it can be a major cause of death in people who live within developing countries.

2. Causes
Food Poisoning

The main cause of food poisoning is eating food that is contaminated with bacteria or viruses. The main bacteria include Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella, and Shigella species. Rarely, viruses can contaminate food, but most of the time, it is due to one of the pathogenic bacteria described above.

Stomach Flu

Causes of the flu include infections from bacteria and viruses that inflame the tissues of the gastrointestinal tract. The infections result in an increase in the fluid in the colon and small intestines because the tissues don't absorb water normally and the motility of the food you eat increases, resulting in diarrhea. The infection can be caused directly from the infectious agent itself or from toxins produced by the infectious agent.

3. Treatment
Food Poisoning

The mainstay of treatment for food poisoning is to avoid eating solid foods if you are feeling nauseous or having diarrhea and to drink plenty of clear liquids to prevent Dehydration. The BRAT diet consists of bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast, which are the first solid foods you should eat after most of the symptoms have gone away. You should wait until the nausea resolves before trying to eat other solid foods. Medications for nausea can be given but you shouldn't take anything for the diarrhea because you need to flush out the bacteria causing the infection.

StomachFlu

When talking about treatment for food poisoning vs flu, you should know there are still some similar ways. You need to rest and drink as much clear liquids you can tolerate if suffering from stomach flu. Water is a good choice as well as chicken or beef broth, which can keep you hydrated until the infection resolves. You can take fluid replacements that contain electrolytes, such as Gatorade or PowerAde, for both food poisoning and flu. This prevents fluid and electrolyte disturbances from occurring. See your doctor if you have any evidence of dehydration or can't keep anything down because you might need a brief hospitalization for intravenous fluids.

4. Prevention
Food Poisoning

You can prevent food poisoning if you consistently wash your hands before handling food during the food preparation process. You should also avoid eating any food that smells bad or has obvious discoloration, indicating that in might be contaminated.

You should seek the attention of a doctor if you come down with symptoms that go beyond the typical food poisoning symptoms. These include the following:

• Blood in the stool or vomit.


• Frequent vomiting episodes with an inability to keep food or liquid down.


• Diarrhea that lasts longer than three days.


• A fever of greater than 101.5 degrees Fahrenheit


• Severe abdominal pain or cramping


• Evidence of dehydration, such as dry mouth, excessive thirst, a lack of adequate urination, lightheadedness, or dizziness.


• Blurry vision, extremity tingling, muscle weakness or other neurological symptoms

StomachFlu

Like food poisoning, nothing prevents the stomach flu better than good hand washing techniques for stomach flu. Wash your hands frequently and stay away from anyone who seems to have the flu. Make sure you wash your hands after using the restroom and when you need to come in contact with someone who has infected with it. However, when comparing food poisoning vs flu, you should know the flu can be contagious from a few days to even weeks. So don't share utensils or glasses with anyone who may be sick with the stomach flu. If you have the stomach flu, stay away from others who may be susceptible to the flu, such as young children, pregnant women, etc.

What to Eat After Stomach Flu

What to Eat After Stomach Flu

With stomach flu come so many other problems such as nausea, chills, Diarrhea, fever, and body aches. While it is never easy to deal with body aches, fever and chills, diarrhea can make things even more difficult. You will not feel like eating anything, but this will make it difficult for your body to recover. You have to be careful about what you decide to eat while you are sick. With stomach flu, the problems do not end soon after you recover. Your stomach will not be functioning at its best, so it is important to know what to eat after stomach flu.

What Should You Know about Stomach Flu?
Viral Gastroenteritis or commonly known as stomach flu is an intestinal infection causing several symptoms such as abdominal cramps, watery diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, and fever. You develop this condition when you are in contact with an infected person, drink contaminated water or eat contaminated food.

You usually recover without any medical intervention when you are otherwise healthy, but there may be some complications for people with compromised immune systems. As it is a viral infection, there is no effective treatment available. Therefore, it is important to take steps to avoid getting infected. Be sure to drink clean water and never eat food that may be contaminated.

What Can You Eat After Stomach Flu?
Taking steps to prevent stomach flu is important, but if you still get it, you need to take rest and let your body recover from the illness. At the same time, you need to know what to eat after stomach flu. Here are somginge good suggestions:

1. Ginger


Ginger has anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties that make it effective against stomach flu. It improves digestion and helps you find some relief from vomiting, nausea, bloating, and abdominal cramps.

Take 1.5 cups of water and add a teaspoon of freshly chopped ginger in it. Bring this to boil and then let it steep for 10 minutes or so. Strain it and drink slowly. Drink this ginger tea a few times a day to find relief. Avoid it if you have Hypertension.

2. Peppermint


It is another herb on the list of what to eat after stomach flu. It is a carminative and has antispasmodic properties that make it effective against gas and bloating. It also offers relief from intestinal and stomach cramps.

Mix a teaspoon of dried peppermint leaves to a cup of boiling water. Let it steep for 10 minutes, strain it, and drink slowly. Drink this peppermint tea 3-4 times a day between meals to find relief.

3. Cinnamon


Cinnamon has powerful antiviral and antibacterial properties and helps destroy virus that causes stomach flu. Due to its warm nature, it also provides you with some relief from aches, chills, and pains.

Take 1.5 cups of boiling water and add a teaspoon of cinnamon powder to it. Brew it for five minutes, strain it, and add a teaspoon of honey before you drink it. Drink this tea thrice a day for a couple of days for relief.

4. Chamomile


Chamomile has stomach-healing properties because it is antispasmodic and reduces inflammation as well. It helps relieve abdominal cramping, diarrhea, nausea, bloating, and gas.

Add three teaspoons of dried chamomile flowers to a cup of boiling water and let it steep for 15 minutes. Strain it, add some lemon juice to it, and drink thrice a day for a couple of days for relief.

5. BRAT Diet


When you have confusion about what to eat after stomach flu, try the BRAT Diet. It involves eating bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. The diet consists of food that is easy to digest and is loaded with carbs, which you need for energy.

• Bananas provide you with potassium, which you lose from diarrhea and vomiting.


• Brown rice has fiber, which provides you with energy and helps treat diarrhea.


• Applesauce is easy to digest and helps with diarrhea because it contains pectin.


• Similarly, white bread is easy to digest and does not overload your stomach.

6. Water


Whatever you eat, be sure to drink plenty of fluids to replace vital bodily fluids you lose through vomiting, sweating, and diarrhea. Take small sips of liquids after regular intervals or chew ice chips. Broth and water are the best choices, but you can also have sports drinks to replace electrolytes you usually lose during the stomach flu.

Foods You Should Avoid to Eat
What to eat after stomach flu is important to learn, but it is equally important to understand what you should not eat when you are sick.

• Avoid dairy at all cost because milk and other dairy products are hard to digest.


• Fiber is good, so long as you do not overeat because it can make diarrhea worse.


• Similarly, avoid greasy foods as well as caffeinated drinks such as strong black tea, coffee, and chocolate.


• Avoid alcohol as well because it is a diuretic and makes your symptoms worse.

When to See Your Doctor
You usually do not need any medical treatment, especially when you try home remedies. However, you should see your doctor if diarrhea and vomiting continue for a few days. Also, talk to your doctor if you notice signs of Dehydrations, like dry mouth, fever (higher than 102F), crying without tears, not urinating, crankiness, lack of energy, or Blood In Stool.

How Can I Prevent from Getting It?
As there is no treatment for stomach flu, you need to take steps to prevent it. Here are the steps to take:

• Be sure to get vaccinated against rotavirus.


• Always wash your hands with water and soap after using bathroom, handling food, and changing diapers.


• Be sure to wash vegetables and fruits thoroughly before eating them and cook meat properly to avoid becoming infected.