When your child keeps catching infections – which tests are worth doing?

When your child keeps catching infections – which tests are worth doing?

Colds and infections in children are nothing unusual, particularly among preschoolers. At these times, you may hear plenty of “valuable” advice from all sides, especially from people whose medical knowledge comes mainly from the internet. Unfortunately, comments such as “They’ll grow out of it”, “After all, everyone is ill at the moment” or “They need to build up immunity by catching illnesses” offer no comfort to parents who are becoming increasingly worried about their children’s frequent infections.

Children fall ill an average of  4-6 times a year. Some less often, others more often. However, when infections become more frequent, when children find them harder to cope with, or when parents are worried about yet another illness, there is no need simply to wait for their little one to “grow out of it”. Nor do they need to rush to the doctor for another antibiotic. Instead, it is worth trying to find the cause of these frequent infections.

Why do children get ill?

Respiratory tract infections are among the most common infections children experience. Recurrent coughs, runny noses, sore throats, sinusitis or middle ear infections affect around 15 per cent of young children. Their causes may be linked to:

• immune system disorders,
• environmental factors,
• starting nursery or preschool,
• an unsuitable diet,
• parents’ lifestyle (e.g. smoking at home),
• allergies,
• parasites in the child’s body,
• diabetes,
• gastro-oesophageal reflux,
• other conditions, such as kidney or heart disease.

Don’t wait for another illness – arrange tests for your child!

No one knows children as well as their parents do. Whenever a little one catches another infection, we often worry as we watch them struggle. As well as seeing a paediatrician, it is worth arranging additional tests to help find the cause of your child’s frequent illnesses.

The basic test is a full blood count with automated differential, which assesses, among other things, the number of erythrocytes (red blood cells), red blood cell indices, haemoglobin concentration, haematocrit, reticulocytes, white blood cells (leukocytes) and platelets. This test can detect many problems, such as anaemia, acute or chronic inflammation in the body, blood clotting disorders and allergies.

Other tests that help check whether your little one currently has an infection include: erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP) and urinalysis.

If your child often has a runny nose, it is worth having a nasal swab, which can help detect or rule out a streptococcal or staphylococcal infection. If your little one frequently has a cough, clears their throat or has a sore throat, a throat swab should also be taken.

Increasingly, the cause of infections turns out not to be reduced immunity in the child, but an allergy. If you suspect an allergy, it is worth booking your child a consultation with an allergy specialist.

The specialist may suggest additional tests to identify the factor triggering the allergy. Tests can be performed for each suspected allergen separately, or in packages such as:

• Respiratory IgE panel – a laboratory test that measures antibodies against specific allergens, including:  tree pollen, grasses, herbs, mites, mould and pet dander.
• Inhalant allergens SX1 – tests that identify allergens causing hay fever, hives, skin redness, coughing and breathlessness. This panel includes allergens such as birch, mugwort, cultivated rye, Cladosporium herbarium, dog hair, and cat hair and dander.
• Allergy test package containing a full blood count with automated differential, immunoglobulin E and one selected allergen panel (respiratory, food or paediatric panel).
• FoodProfil, a food intolerance test – a test that detects allergies to specific food allergens. On BadamySie.pl, you can buy FoodProfil tests covering different numbers of allergens, from 22 foods to as many as 264 different allergens.

Measuring the following parameters also plays an important role in identifying the cause of frequent infections in your little one:

• Glucose
• Sodium (Na)
• Potassium (K)
• Total calcium
• Iron
• Urea
• Creatinine
• Albumin
• 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25 OH)

These tests help diagnose or rule out certain chronic conditions that impair immunity, and can also detect deficiencies of specific substances in the body.

Few people realise that parasites may be responsible for a child’s frequent illnesses: threadworms, Giardia, roundworms or even a tapeworm. To rule out or diagnose parasites in a child’s body, a stool test for parasites is performed. It is worth knowing that this test should be performed at least three times, with a 48-hour interval between successive samples.

There can be many reasons why children fall ill, so it is not worth relying on the idea that a little one must go through illnesses in order to be healthy later on. It is much better to take matters into your own hands and discuss your child’s health with a paediatrician, while additional laboratory tests will certainly help diagnose the problem.

At the BadamySie.pl shop,  you can buy test packages designed especially for young children online, without leaving home. These packages are:

• Healthy preschooler test package
• Childhood diseases test package
• Young child test package