It seems that several kids in our playgroup have come down with Coxsackievirus. A benign but highly contagious illness characterized by high fevers and blisters in the throat that cause nausea and decreased appetite.I am terrified.
I don't care that this virus works itself out after 3-5 days with no lasting effects. For a child with MCAD, a high fever with decreased appetite is exactly the most dangerous situation to be in. I'd rather take a 2 week long cough, or general fussiness. But please, no high spiking fevers. We've avoided the ER so far, and I am not about to start going.
I'm glad our playgroup responded so quickly and informed all of us of the situation. But it leaves me wondering what to do tomorrow. We have a lunch picnic play-date and a music class scheduled. Do we still go? So far I've avoided sheltering Cupcake from illnesses, choosing to take her out in crowds no matter what. And she's responded by having a strong immune system. But this is the first case of a specific viral outbreak. I don't want to hide, but I don't want her to be ill either.
She's been fussy this evening, and took a bizarro nap at 7 pm (her bedtime is 10 pm). We can't tell yet if it's a strange extra evening nap, or if she'd down for the night. Either way, something is off, and I hope to Dog she's not coming down with the illness.
Honestly, I have avoided people I haven't seen in years because of coxsackievirus. It is sooo contagious. Even though it's no problem for "normal" kids, I wasn't willing to chance it with Klaw. Keep her hydrated. Maybe get some pedialyte on hand, if you don't already have some. We were able to avoid the hospital when Klaw had pneumonia because we were able to keep him hydrated with pedialyte & formula (or breastmilk is even better if Cupcake is still nursing).
ReplyDeleteI hope she's fine. Good luck!
Thanks so much for the positive thoughts!
ReplyDeleteSo far it seems we *might* have dodged the main viral outbreak. We missed the play-date last friday where most of the kids got the illness. The crazy nap issues are apparently unrelated to any colds. :)