Does Your Child Have the Flu?

Does Your Child Have the Flu? Here’s What to Do

If your child suddenly has body aches, a fever, and a cough, you may wonder if they have the flu. This highly contagious virus infects millions of children per year, and unfortunately, can become serious with little warning.

Priya Tulsi, MD, a pediatrician with UVA Health Children's, shares what to know about flu complications and how you can help your child with their illness.

Is It the Flu?

We use the phrase “the flu” interchangeably to mean a variety of respiratory and stomach viruses. But when doctors are talking about the flu, they mean influenza.

Influenza is a unique virus. Because of its ability to change and mutate, there are new strains every year. That means there are some season-to-season differences. It also means that while the flu vaccine is very helpful at preventing serious illness, it can't completely prevent the flu. But the following traits tend to be true of all influenza strains.

Hits Fast and Hard

Famously, the 1918 flu rendered otherwise healthy people sick to the point of helplessness within 2 hours. Fortunately, most of the strains we encounter today are a little bit slower, but the onset is still described as ‘fast.’

Most people transition from totally healthy to very sick within a day. It continues to worsen until around day 3.

High Fever

For adults, a high fever typically ranges from around 100-104 degrees Fahrenheit. But, for children, fevers can sometimes even go as high as 105 degrees. This usually happens on day 1 or 2 of the illness.

Debilitating

While most people end up crashed out on the couch for a cold, the flu will have you or your child bedbound. Muscle pain, fatigue, chills, and headache that gets worse with light and sound all make it impossible to do much besides lie in bed.

Vomiting/Diarrhea

Surprise! Getting the flu as a child comes with an exciting bonus symptom. Children are more likely to have vomiting and diarrhea than adults. With stomach viruses (unfortunately, also common in children), this is the primary symptom and often the first. But with the flu, it shows up as a secondary symptom.

Home Treatment for the Flu

Most cases of the flu can be handled at home. But it’s still a rough time for kids. There are things you can do to help.

Rest

Encourage your child to get sleep, preferably in a quiet space. While offering screentime is tempting, it can disrupt sleep and make headaches worse. As they get better, screentime may become a welcome distraction, but early on, sleep should be the focus.

Over-the-Counter Medications

If your child is old enough (over 3 months old for Tylenol and 6 months for ibuprofen), over-the-counter medications can help lower fever and reduce pain. This can, in turn, make it easier to rest, which can improve healing.

Just be mindful of what is in the medications you give your child. It may be possible to accidentally give too much of a medicine if you're not reading labels. For instance, sometimes parents give Tylenol and then a cough medicine containing Tylenol, which may be too much at once.

Honey

If your child is older than 1 year, you can offer honey for coughing. It’s more effective than most over-the-counter cough remedies, tastes good, and since there’s no medication, there’s no risk for accidental overdosing.

Fluids

No one wants to eat or drink much of anything with the flu. And it’s fine for your child to not eat if they’re not feeling up to it. But they need to take in fluids. Water is great, but can sometimes be unexpectedly hard on the tummy.

Warm apple juice offers fluids and calories in a comforting package. You can also try Pedialyte or another children’s electrolyte mixture if your pediatrician thinks it’s a good idea for your child.

Humidifier

A cool mist humidifier is a kids’ room staple for a reason. It works. Available in lots of kid-friendly designs, keeping airways moist can help your child breathe more easily and recover a little faster.

There are a few things to know about humidifier safety, but essentially, don’t use hot humidifiers (burn risk), don’t clean with harsh chemicals, but do clean frequently.

When To See Your Pediatrician

As soon as you suspect flu, call your pediatrician’s office.

Your child’s doctor knows their baselines, this season’s flu, and can help you navigate the illness. Sometimes that can even be via phone or virtual office visits.

“While there’s no cure for the flu, an antiviral medicine is available for at-risk patients. If started within 48 hours of symptom onset, it may decrease the duration and severity of the symptoms a little bit,” Tulsi says.

When to Go to the ER for the Flu

Normally, it’s best to keep your children with the flu safely at home. They’re at risk for picking up new illnesses while their immune system is under siege from influenza. But these symptoms mean it’s time to pack up a bag and head for the ER.

Having Trouble Breathing

It’s normal for breathing to be a little wheezy when you’ve got the flu. But if your child’s skin is blue or gray, they’re breathing quickly, or you can see their ribs pulling in when they’re trying to breathe, it’s time to get them to the hospital, where we can monitor their oxygen. Medical professionals can also offer breathing treatments or supplemental oxygen if needed.

Dehydration

If your child is unable to take fluids and isn’t peeing every 8 hours, they may be dehydrated. Dehydration can cause serious complications and is corrected at the hospital through IV fluids.

Sudden Changes in Behavior

If your child can’t wake up, seems confused, or ‘limp,’ that can be a sign of serious complication. Altered mental status and decreased consciousness were 2 of the symptoms frequently seen in children with brain inflammation caused by the flu.

Seizures

When children have seizures due to high fever, it’s called a “febrile seizure.” These seizures often don’t have any lasting neurological effects. But a child who has them still needs to be seen, even if it only lasts for a few seconds. Most of the time, this can be handled through your pediatrician. But if the seizure lasts longer than 5 minutes or is accompanied by any additional problems, like a stiff neck or vomiting, then your child needs to go to the ER.

When Will My Child Be Better?

Even though the flu is relatively short-lived, it can feel like a lifetime while your child is going through it. Day 3 is usually the turning point for most people. At that point, symptoms should be getting ‘better’ rather than ‘worse.’ By day 7, your child will probably feel well enough to sit up and engage in some light activities.

For most people, it takes about 2 weeks to feel like they’re back to themselves, and it’s normal for your child to need more rest until then.

After your child is fever-free without medication for 24 hours, they’re out of the infectious period and can start being around others. 

Flu in Kids: Frequently Asked Questions

There are a lot of rumors and misconceptions about how the flu affects kids. Here are a few of the more common ones and what you should know.

Did It Come from the Vaccine?

No. The flu vaccine isn’t a live virus. So, you can’t get the flu from the vaccine. Unfortunately, the vaccine does usually take 2 weeks to be effective, and timing that with the start of flu season can be a challenge. As a result, some people get the vaccine and the flu around the same time.

But the vaccine also isn’t effective after you’ve been exposed to the flu.

Why Don’t We Give Antibiotics for the Flu?

The flu is a virus. Viruses aren’t affected by antibiotics. But overuse of these medications can cause antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. As a result, we limit their use to illnesses caused by bacteria.

There’s also a growing pile of evidence that antibiotic use can even be harmful to flu patients. All medications have side effects. Side effects of antibiotics include diarrhea, nausea, and dizziness. All things your child may already be experiencing and would likely like “less” of rather than “more.”

Is the Flu a Big Deal?

Many folks are dismissive of the flu. Tulsi shares, “Having experienced mild cases personally, many people think it’s similar to the common cold.”

But complications can be serious. And are more likely in young children.

Do Healthy Children Get Flu Complications?

“Yes,” Tulsi says. “Even healthy children can have flu complications.”

Common flu complications include:

• Pneumonia
• Ear infections
• Sinusitis
• Dehydration
• Inflammation of the heart, muscles, or brain

Of these, the most serious and likely to be fatal are brain inflammation, heart inflammation, and pneumonia.

Do Kids Die from the Flu?

Last flu season (October 2024-May 2025), 280 children died from the flu. This is the highest number since the H1N1 pandemic, when 288 pediatric deaths occurred.

The average age was 7 years, which is surprising for many, since most respiratory viruses are serious for infants and become less serious for older children. Of the children who passed, 44% had no underlying medical conditions. Almost all were unvaccinated.