5 Common Childhood Illnesses You Need To Know About

As a parent, you’re going to deal with your fair share of sicknesses. Ranging from the common colds to chicken pox, etc. But by learning about the most common childhood illnesses ahead of time, I think you can start to feel more prepared for this aspect of parenting. So I wanted to put together a comprehensive list for you all.

Starting with one of the most common sicknesses of all…

#1 – Common Cold

Frequency / How It’s Transmitted

Children are estimated to have about six to ten colds per year on average, with most of them occurring during the fall and winter when school is in session. And this is because colds are quite easy to transmit. They’re spread by uninfected people coming in contact with droplets in the air (or on surfaces) that were expelled by an infected person. Typically this is done through sneezing/coughing.

So as you can see, it’s really no wonder the cold is one of the most common childhood illnesses out there.

Symptoms / How Long It Lasts

Colds can last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. Because the length of the cold depends on certain factors like the person’s age, health, the specific virus involved, etc.

But while sick, the child with the cold will typically experience symptoms like…

• A low-grade fever with chills
• Fatigue (usually this won’t be too severe)
• A headache
• A cough
• Sneezing; a stuff, runny nose; and discharge from the nose that may thicken over time and/or turn green or yellow
• Watery eyes
• A scratchy, tickly, and/or sore throat
• And achy muscles or bones

Diagnosis / Treatments

Usually there’s no need to formally diagnose a cold, unless the symptoms worsen. Because they tend to clear up on their own in most cases. But if you do go to the doctor, they’ll likely just ask for a list of symptoms and check your temperature. And in some cases, they may take a swab from your throat or nose.

In terms of treatment for a cold, the following methods can be done at home and are typically very effective…

• Encouraging your child to get plenty of rest
• Making sure they stay hydrated
• Giving them medication based on their symptoms; decongestants and cough medicine are good in most cases, pain relievers can help with headaches and body aches, etc. But NEVER give your children aspirin to help with their fever, as this has been linked to Reye’s syndrome.
• Putting petroleum jelly around their nose and lips if their skin gets dry
• Having them inhale warm steam to reduce congestion
• And giving them warm, salt water to gargle with to ease pain from a sore throat

How To Avoid It

It can be hard to avoid the common cold. But teaching your kids to wash their hands regularly and avoid touching their eyes, nose, and mouth until they do can help cut down on how often they get sick.

Plus, you’ll obviously want to avoid people who you know have a cold. And if someone in your household does, try to sanitize the surfaces they touch before your uninfected kids interact with that surface.

#2 – Flu

Frequency / How It’s Transmitted

It’s estimated that about 20-30% of children will contract the flu every year, which unfortunately makes it one of the most common childhood illnesses out there. And this is an alarming number considering how severe the flu can get if certain complications (like pneumonia) arise. In fact, around 20,000 children that are under the age of five are hospitalized every year because of the flu.

And much like the cold, the flu can be spread easily through droplets in the air or on surfaces. Meaning that a simple sneeze in the wrong direction could infect a child with the virus.

Symptoms / How Long It Lasts

The flu usually lasts about a week, assuming that there are no complications or other health conditions to consider. And during this time frame, common symptoms include…

• Fatigue (this can even last for up to three weeks after the child gets over the flu)
• A headache
• A runny or stuffy nose
• A cough (typically this will worsen as the flu progresses)
• A sore throat
• Body aches
• And a high fever

Rarer symptoms include things like nausea/vomiting and diarrhea.

Diagnosis / Treatments

Because the flu can become so severe, it’s important that you take your child to the doctor if you suspect they may have it. Once there, the doctor will inquire about symptoms and medical history, give your child a physical exam, and potentially even take a nose or throat swab to confirm.

Treatment plans tend to include things like…

• Antiviral medications
• Acetaminophen for the fever/body aches (once again, NEVER give aspirin to a child with a fever)
• Plenty of rest
• And lots of liquid

But sometimes hospitalization is necessary.

How To Avoid It

Annual flu vaccines are crucial when it comes to avoiding the flu, so you need to make sure your children have their flu shots every year. The shots can cause some annoying side effects, but they can’t cause the flu! And it’s worth it to protect your child from the potential dangers of the virus.

But alongside the vaccines you could also implement the following methods…

• Teach your kids to wash their hands regularly
• Have them wear masks in big groups of people during peak flu season
• And keep them away from anyone that you know is infected

#3 – Chickenpox

Frequency / How It’s Transmitted

Next up on our list of common childhood illnesses is… chickenpox. Chickenpox used to be extremely common, to the point that almost every child caught it before they reached adulthood. But in the US, where we have easy access to the chickenpox vaccine, the numbers have dropped considerably in recent years.

However, I still feel the need to add it to this list. Because it’s still fairly commonplace, albeit rarer than it was in the past.

It can be transmitted through sneezing and coughing, like with the cold and the flu. But it can also be spread to others if they come into contact with the blisters, saliva, or mucus of the infected person. So suffice it to say, chickenpox is extremely contagious!

Symptoms / How Long It Lasts

Chickenpox can last for a while, and it has a long incubation period as well. To be exact, after a person is infected it can take up to two weeks for symptoms to appear. And then after that, it can take another one to two weeks for the symptoms to clear up if there’s no complications.

Symptoms of chickenpox include…

• The most well known symptom of chickenpox is the rash that comes with it. The rash appears, then turns into blisters, which then turn into scabs after about a week. But the blisters are fluid-filled, itchy, and cover most of the body.

A few days before the rash appears though, children may also experience symptoms like…

• Fatigue
• A headache
• A fever
• And a lack of a appetite

Diagnosis / Treatments

If you child has chickenpox, they might need to visit the doctor. But thankfully, diagnosis is usually just a matter of a medical professional taking a look at the rash. At most, they may do a blood test or take a sample of liquid from a blister for confirmation.

Treatment is also pretty straightforward, and most of it can be done from home…

• You’ll want to keep your child from scratching as much as possible; putting gloves on their hands, cutting their fingernails, etc… may be helpful here
• You could try calamine lotion on the spots to help manage itching as well
• Some people also find relief from the itching by taking a cool bath, with uncooked oatmeal or baking soda mixed in with the water
• And finally… you’ll want to make sure that, if your child does scratch a blister, they wash their hands afterwards.

How To Avoid It

Because of the contagious nature of chickenpox, and the long incubation period (that makes it difficult to avoid people with the virus)… the only real way to keep your children from getting chickenpox is to ensure they’re vaccinated.

#4 – Head Lice

Frequency / How It’s Transmitted

For someone that’s never had head lice, it might not seem like that common of an occurrence. But actually, it’s estimated that children get head lice almost as often as they get colds! And that puts head lice squarely in the most common childhood illnesses category.

So how is it transmitted? Head lice are spread to others in two main ways… Direct head-to-head contact, such as if an infected person gave an uninfected person a hug; and the sharing of objects like pillowcases, combs, and towels between an infected and uninfected person.

Symptoms / How Long It Lasts

In the most ideal of scenarios, head lice can take about two to three weeks to get rid of completely (with treatment). But the tricky part is that you need to kill the eggs, kill the adult head lice, and keep from becoming infected again in order to get over the head lice completely. Otherwise, even though adult lice only live about a month, the cycle would just keep repeating as the eggs hatch.

With that said, symptoms of head lice include…

• Itching (which may not occur for four to six weeks after infection, if you’ve never gotten head lice before)
• And sores (if the infected person scratches their head too much)

And at times, you may actually be able to see the head lice (or their eggs) as well.

Diagnosis / Treatments

You do need to take your child to the doctor if you suspect they have head lice, as they’ll be able to confirm the diagnosis. Usually this is done visually, and the doctor may use a variety of tools to get a closer look. Such as a magnifying glass, and potentially even a special light.

The treatment plan for lice is always some form of medication. There are options that you can get over the counter, and options that your doctor can prescribe you. And there are two categories that these medications can fall in…

• Category number one is medicine that kills both the adult lice and the eggs. With these medications, you’ll usually only require one round of treatment (as long as everyone in the house takes it).
• Category number two is medicine that only kills the adult lice. And in this case, you’ll need to be treated again after a few weeks to get rid of any lice that may have hatched since.

Note – Animals can’t spread head lice, so your pets don’t need to be treated!

How To Avoid It

Obviously, the best way to avoid head lice in your household is to keep head-to-head contact with others to a minimum and make sure that your children don’t use other people’s hair products, pillowcases, etc…

But if your child has long hair, you could also tie it back in a ponytail (or something similar) to reduce the chances of their hair touching other people’s hair.

#5 – Strep Throat

Frequency / How It’s Transmitted

Out of all the common childhood illnesses on this list, strep throat is probably the one that hit my kids the hardest. (They both had a bad case of it when they were younger.) And I’m not the only parent to have this experience, because not only do most kids have strep throat at some point in their childhood… but most will have it several times.

This is due to the fact that, like with the cold and flu, this sickness is spread by droplets in the air. So it’s highly contagious, and especially prevalent during the school year.

Symptoms / How Long It Lasts

Thankfully, strep throat only lasts a few days if it’s treated. But during these two to five days, the symptoms can be quite uncomfortable. Including things like…

• An extremely sore throat, that comes with pain when swallowing
• Swollen lymph nodes in the neck
• And a fever (which can get quite high)

Obviously, the throat looks a bit different as well when you’re sick with strep. It will look red, swollen, and there will usually be white streaks at the back of the throat as well. There may even be small red spots on the roof of the mouth.

Diagnosis / Treatments

It’s extremely important that you seek out treatment for your child if you think they have strep throat. Because complications from strep can be dangerous if not treated. And when you do go to the doctor, you should expect them to swab your child’s throat to test for strep bacteria. They may also do a throat culture if the original test isn’t conclusive.

Once diagnosed with strep throat, your child will have to take some antibiotics; and that should clear up the infection quite quickly. But while you wait for that to happen, there a few things you can do to soothe their throat. Such as…

• Give them something cool to drink, or ice cream/fruit-flavored ice pops
• Use a humidifier to moisten the air, and cut down on dryness in the throat
• And make sure they get plenty of sleep

How To Avoid It

There’s no vaccine for strep throat, so the only real way to avoid it is to teach your kids to wash their hands and try to keep them away from infected people.

Final Thoughts

I hope you enjoyed learning about some of the most common childhood illnesses. Because although having a sick child is no fun, it’s always better if you feel prepared and knowledgeable about the situation. Or at least, that’s how I felt whenever my girls would get sick with something.

And as always, if you’d like to learn more about parenting, be sure to check out some of my other articles!