Flu in children: symptoms, home care and the children's flu vaccine

The NHS lists a sudden high temperature, an aching body, feeling tired or exhausted, a dry cough, sore throat, headache, difficulty sleeping and loss of appetite. It says the symptoms are similar in children but they can also get pain in the ear, sore eyes, swollen glands and appear less active. NHS inform adds chills, a runny or blocked nose, sneezing, diarrhoea or tummy pain, and feeling or being sick.

Because flu viruses change regularly, NHS inform says you can catch flu many times as the body will not have natural resistance to new versions.

Both are viral and similar at first. The NHS describes the difference as follows.

The NHS suggests rest and sleep, paracetamol or ibuprofen if the child is distressed or uncomfortable (checking the packaging is suitable for the child, or asking a pharmacist or GP), and plenty of water to avoid dehydration, with urine light yellow or clear. It says not to give aspirin to children under 16, and not to take paracetamol together with flu remedies that contain paracetamol, because it is easy to take more than the recommended dose. NHS inform recommends keeping warm and staying off school until the child feels better.

The NHS says antibiotics do not work for viral infections such as flu and GPs do not recommend them because they will not relieve symptoms or speed up recovery.

The NHS says to ask for an urgent GP appointment or get NHS 111 help if a child has flu symptoms and you are worried about your baby's or child's symptoms, they have a long-term medical condition such as diabetes or a condition affecting the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, brain or nerves, a weakened immune system, feel very unwell, feel short of breath, or symptoms do not improve after 7 days. It says to call 999 or go to A&E for sudden chest pain, severe difficulty breathing or coughing up blood.

NHS inform adds, for children, signs that call for urgent GP contact including being more short of breath than usual, pain breathing in or coughing, confusion or dizziness, being unable to keep fluids down, and peeing less than usual as a sign of dehydration; and for 999, severe difficulty breathing, drowsiness, and lips or skin turning very pale, blue or grey.

NHS inform says flu can affect any age but is more common and more serious in babies and young children, older people, pregnant women and people with other conditions such as asthma, cystic fibrosis, or heart, kidney or liver conditions or a weakened immune system. People in these groups are more likely to need hospital treatment or antiviral medication. Complications include pneumonia or worsening of lung problems, usually after a few days of symptoms. The NHS says each winter in the UK, thousands of children who do not have a health condition need hospital care because of flu.

The NHS says the vaccine is offered every autumn or early winter to children aged 2 or 3 on 31 August of that year, children aged 4 who have not started school, school-aged children from reception to year 11, and children aged 6 months to 17 with certain long-term conditions, including asthma needing steroid inhaler or tablets, cystic fibrosis, serious heart conditions, kidney or liver disease, some conditions affecting the brain or nerves such as cerebral palsy, diabetes, a weakened immune system and problems with the spleen such as sickle cell disease. Eligibility dates change each year, so check the current NHS page.

Most children are offered a nasal spray, the preferred vaccine for ages 2 to 16, which contains porcine gelatine; an injected vaccine without gelatine is available and is offered to under-2s and children who cannot have the spray. The NHS says to wait if the child has a high temperature or a very blocked nose, that the usual side effects are mild and settle in 1 to 2 days, and that you cannot get flu from any flu vaccine.

The NHS says flu is spread by germs from coughs and sneezes, which can live on hands and surfaces for 24 hours, so washing hands, covering coughs and sneezes with a tissue and binning tissues help. UKHSA says infected people should stay away from the setting until they are better and no longer have a temperature, and that settings should contact the health protection team only if there is increasing absence or serious illness.