When a child coughs, this causes increased concern among parents, as well as teachers in kindergarten, if the child attends this institution. At the same time, the baby feels well, the body temperature remains normal, there are no symptoms of redness of the throat or runny nose. What happens to the child, as evidenced by a cough in the child’s body.
Komarovsky about dry cough
A children's pediatrician, well known to all parents, Mr. Komarovsky notes that most parents make a grave mistake by showing excessive care to their child. For example, as soon as the air temperature drops, parents immediately begin to wrap up the child, putting on several shirts and socks. Unfortunately, practice shows that there is no need to do this, because a child cannot be cold with a slight decrease in ambient temperature due to his activity. After all, children do not stand in one place. They are always running, playing, frolicking, etc.
And as soon as a child coughs, mustard plasters, mixtures, and pills are immediately used. But the cough doesn’t go away. Dr. Komarovsky is sure that in this situation the cough does not disappear for only one reason. Its independent manifestation most likely only signals that pathological changes are occurring in the body. Which ones exactly? This needs to be understood correctly.
Main causes of cough
A child's cough may occur due to an allergic reaction or infection. But if the body temperature remains normal and there is no runny nose, then there is no reason to talk about an infectious disease. Allergy remains. If parents have not previously noticed an allergic reaction in their child, they therefore rule it out. At the same time, few people monitor the level of humidity in their living space. Air conditioners, radiators, etc. increase air dryness. And if you examine the room more closely, you can even see dust, which often provokes coughing.
But what should parents do if they have removed all the irritants, but the cough does not go away for a long time? Only a pediatrician will help them cope with this matter.
Prevention
A little about prevention. Komarovsky never tires of repeating that the most important thing for preventive purposes is to prevent a decrease in the child’s immunity. It's no secret that weak immunity is more susceptible to infections and viruses.
Daily ventilation of a living space reduces the risk of infection by 2-3 times, because pathogens die in cold air.
Preventive vaccinations are a huge help in the fight against viral diseases (including influenza). They need to be done every year when the cold season sets in. The positive effect of vaccination occurs after two weeks. It is advisable that during this period the child does not come into contact with infectious patients.
Important! Only a doctor can refer you for vaccination! The child must be absolutely healthy. Vaccination can be done from 6 months.
During the cold season, for preventive purposes, Dr. Komarovsky recommends drinking rosehip decoction. This will strengthen the child’s immunity, since rosehip contains a large amount of vitamin C.
If a child suffers from colds more than 8 times a year, then doctors classify them as frequently and long-term ill people (CHS). In this case, consultation with an immunologist is necessary. For frequently ill children, the pediatrician may prescribe sanatorium-resort treatment. And absolutely free! At the expense of the Ministry of Health.
Another effective preventive measure is hardening. But only in moderation. You should start by gradually reducing the water temperature. Reduce by one degree every day. Hardening should begin from the feet. For example, in the first days they soaked their legs in cool water, on the fifth day they soaked them up to their thighs, and so on. Only a healthy child should be hardened. Even if there is only a slight runny nose, hardening should be stopped.
Any cough requires consultation with a qualified specialist. Do not self-medicate under any circumstances! Not only will you not be cured, but you will also develop complications. The health of the child is only in your hands!
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Feb 18, 2017Violetta Lekar
Source
What to do with a child’s cough: treat, alleviate, suppress? Do mustard plasters and inhalations help? What products should you keep on hand? Dr. Komarovsky’s main advice about a child’s cough is in the Express Newspaper material.
How to relieve coughing attacks
The first thing Dr. Komarovsky recommends is to check for a runny nose, examine the mucus, the thickness of which indicates the consistency of the blood. So, sputum is liquid, which means the consistency of blood is also liquid. With thicker, more viscous blood, viscous sputum will be produced. Accordingly, parents should provide the child with plenty of fluids, which helps thin the blood. Second rule: monitor the humidity level in the room. If a child has a dry cough, then it is extremely necessary for him to be in a room where the air is humid. For this purpose, you can use special humidifiers.
And if the child feels fine, it is advisable for him to spend more time in the fresh air. The doctor reminds that there are two types of cough medicines: drugs that doctors recommend for whooping cough, and mucolytics, which increase sputum. The latter can sometimes increase the intensity of the cough.
If an infant has a cough, then giving mucolytics to the baby is dangerous. In general, it is highly undesirable for children under 2 years of age to take mucolytics. Without any risk to his health, it is possible and necessary to provide treatment, which involves drinking plenty of fluids, rinsing the nose and humidifying the room.
Summing up the conversation about cough without fever, Komarovsky once again focuses the attention of parents on how to treat the child:
• moist and cool air in the room, • drinking plenty of fluids, • finding out the cause that provoked the symptom, • visiting a doctor.
We advise you to watch the video at the end of this article, where Dr. Komarovsky explains the treatment of dry or wet cough, what to do if there is no fever or runny nose, and how to independently determine the cause that caused this reflex. And there are many reasons that cause coughing: from the most harmless to the dangerous.
Cough without fever in a child: what Dr. Komarovsky advises
Cough in children is mainly either viral or allergic. When a virus or allergen penetrates the bronchi, inflammation of their mucous membrane occurs. The body actively fights, producing mucus, which should neutralize the virus. And expectoration is an attempt to remove mucus accumulated in the lungs.
The appearance of a cough in a child, of course, worries his parents. They are especially confused by the absence of any other symptoms - fever, redness in the throat, weakness, runny nose.
What happens to the baby in this case? Komarovsky and a number of other pediatricians consider a cough in a child without fever to be a signal that some kind of illness is developing in the child’s body.
All that remains is to find out what kind of disease we are dealing with.
Causes of cough in children without fever
- A baby's cough can be caused by either an infection or an allergic reaction. However, if the temperature does not rise and there is no runny nose, then the infection option disappears. Then all that remains is allergies. If the child has not previously noticed allergic reactions to anything, parents are not even aware of the possibility of their occurrence. Unfortunately, today most people do not consider it necessary to control the level of humidity in the children's room. Using radiators and air conditioners to heat a room significantly dries out the air. By the way, excessively dry air is one of the causes of cough in children.
- First of all, Dr. Komarovsky, when talking about a cough, advises paying attention to a runny nose. The consistency of the snot can also be used to determine the consistency of the blood. If the coughed up sputum is liquid, the blood will also be quite liquid. As the blood becomes thicker, the sputum becomes more viscous. To achieve blood thinning, parents should give their coughing child water more often.
- If we are talking about a cough without fever, the cause of its occurrence may be ordinary household dust. It tends to accumulate in pillows and soft children's toys. How to treat such a cough? In this case, you will need to get rid of all irritants and wet clean the child’s room every day. In addition, the baby should be switched to a gentle diet.
- A fever-free cough may indicate the initial stage of development of a cold or infectious disease - for example, bronchitis or whooping cough. There is also a residual cough - it persists for a certain time after the disappearance of all other symptoms.
- One of the likely causes of a cough in a child without any accompanying symptoms is the entry of a foreign body into the upper respiratory tract. Sometimes it can even appear in the lower sections of the bronchi. During inhalation, the mucous membranes become irritated, and a cough appears as a protective reflex.
- Komarovsky and other pediatricians also attribute a dry cough in a child to reflux disease of the esophagus. With it, the body temperature remains normal and there is no runny nose. A dry cough is provoked by gastric juice thrown into the respiratory organs.
How to treat correctly
As already mentioned, cough is not a separate disease, but one of the symptoms. Thus, it is necessary to treat not only him, but the entire disease.
- Children often cough when they have a cold. This means that all your efforts should be directed towards fighting a cold, not forgetting to ease expectoration. It is necessary that the phlegm leaves the bronchi as much as possible. The easiest and most effective way to achieve this is by drinking plenty of fluids. Also, complete treatment of cough in children is impossible without monitoring the air condition in the nursery. The humidity level must be kept within normal limits.
- If a child coughs, he is not allowed to leave the house. And this is a grave mistake. If your body temperature is normal, walking outside will significantly speed up your recovery. When the baby actively moves in the fresh air, this prevents the mucus from drying out and helps the phlegm to pass away.
- If you need to relieve your child's cough, you should pay close attention to how he breathes. With a stuffy nose, the baby constantly inhales air through his mouth. And this leads to a worsening of the situation - an increase in the viscosity of snot and, accordingly, an increase in cough. Hence the conclusion: the nose must be clean all the time. To cleanse your nose, you need to regularly rinse it with saline or sea water. If the nose usually gets stuffy at night and the child has difficulty breathing, you can put special medications on the nose immediately before bed to narrow the blood vessels.
So, to summarize, how to treat a cough that is not accompanied by fever? First of all, to soften it, secondly, to help the body get rid of snot.
To do this you will need:
- give the child plenty to drink;
- maintain normal temperature (about 18-20 degrees) and air humidity level in the room where the baby is;
- walk with the baby so that he can breathe fresh air;
- Give the child mucolytics to stimulate expectoration.
What to do with a wet cough
Despite the fact that a child’s cough is not uncommon today, one must be able to distinguish a simple cough from the onset of some disease. In particular, a wet cough indicates that a tiny bit of infection has entered the body.
Even if your child does not have a fever, under no circumstances should you take medications at your own discretion. It is necessary, first of all, to consult a pediatrician. The pediatrician will find out the real cause of the wet cough.
But if you come to an appointment, and he immediately writes out a prescription for the purchase of antibiotics, change the doctor.
A wet cough in a child that is not accompanied by a fever is not advisable to immediately treat with “heavy artillery” - taking antibiotics.
In order to remove accumulated sputum faster and much more effectively, narrowly targeted mucolytic drugs (for example, Bromhexine or Mucaltin) are usually prescribed.
In addition, when a child coughs, you need to give him a lot of water. Children will enjoy cranberry juice, tea with raspberry jam, and sweet compotes with licorice root and thyme. If the body temperature is within normal limits, you can rub and steam your baby’s feet.
If the child starts barking
If parents hear a barking cough in a child, it is necessary to immediately begin treatment. Otherwise, the disease may become acute and then chronic.
According to Komarovsky, it is not the barking cough itself that needs to be treated separately, but the ailment that provoked the occurrence of this symptom. Medicines and other methods are used for treatment. If a child begins to “bark” due to an allergy, it is extremely important to promptly identify the allergen and eliminate it.
If you cannot determine the allergen on your own, you need to be examined by a doctor, who, based on the results, will prescribe a suitable antihistamine. In winter, regularly give your baby warm drinks. This is necessary in order to prevent the throat and larynx from drying out.
Dr. Komarovsky also strongly advises getting a humidifier for the children's room.
If the cause of a barking cough is an acute form of laryngitis and the child experiences suffocation while coughing, call a doctor immediately. After all, the development of laryngeal edema is a very dangerous condition for the baby. Laryngospasm is relieved with the drugs Loratadine and Desloratadine. Pharyngitis is treated with antibiotics and medications that reduce throat irritation (Inhalipt).
Before sending your child to sleep, so that he does not wake up from coughing, you need to give him Mukaltin or Codelac. If the doctor has diagnosed the baby with bronchitis or tracheitis, then treatment is carried out with mucolytics - Bromhexine, Lazolvan or Ambrobene.
The task is to transform a dry cough into a wet one, which indicates a speedy recovery. For this purpose, drugs are used to thin the mucus and improve its expectoration.
If the infection is of bacterial origin, antibiotics are added (Augmentin and Cephalexin). In addition, herbal syrups made from marshmallow or plantain help with barking cough.
Folk recipes
If the baby does not have a fever, some traditional medicine will be effective. Let's give a couple of examples.
- To soften a cough, you can use warm milk mixed with mineral water in a 1:1 ratio. An alternative version of this drug is to mix heated milk with a teaspoon of natural honey and add a small slice of fresh butter. This remedy will soften the irritated throat, and for some time the cough will stop bothering the child.
- A good remedy is radish juice. It should be given to the baby a teaspoon every three hours. How to get this juice? You can divide the radish in half, pour a little honey on each half and sprinkle a little granulated sugar. Then place it in a deep plate so that the radish lies at an angle. Literally after an hour, the healing juice can be drained and used for its intended purpose. Remember that it should not be given to children under one year of age.
After the fact
Finally, it should be emphasized once again that fighting a cough alone is not only meaningless, but is also dangerous for the child.
Randomly taking different medications and changing medications if the results from their use do not appear instantly are absolutely unreasonable actions that are harmful to the baby’s health.
After all, it may turn out that you just need to cover the radiators or remove a new flower from the room, or check whether the baby is allergic to the wool in the blanket.
In any case, it is necessary to find out the cause of the symptom, and only then act on it comprehensively. This is the only way to cure both the cough and the disease that caused it.
Yulia Zablotskaya
Sources: medscape.com, health.harvard.edu, medicalnewstoday.com.
Source: https://globalmedclub.ru/kashel/rebenok/komarovskij-bez-temperatury.html
Cough in infants
Cough can often be observed in infants. Moreover, it appears after waking up, after which the urge disappears and breathing returns to normal. Komarovsky assures that this is a normal phenomenon and the child does not need treatment. Coughing after waking up is a signal from the lungs, which thus get rid of the phlegm that has accumulated while the child sleeps.
You only need to be wary if the child has a hysterical and barking dry cough, which is accompanied by a fever.
Treatment is also necessary if a child’s dry cough lasts for some time and relief does not occur.
A dry, barking cough may indicate that your child has whooping cough. Listen to exactly how the child coughs. If a characteristic strong rumble appears in the chest, then most likely the child has whooping cough. But to make sure of your diagnosis, be sure to show it to your doctor. And the last point that Komarovsky calls if a child has a cough without fever and there is no runny nose is reflux disease of the esophagus. Stomach acid enters the respiratory system, causing a dry cough.
The cause of a cough can be ordinary household dust, which tends to accumulate in soft toys and pillows. In this situation, it is necessary to remove all irritants and regularly carry out wet cleaning. Treatment consists of limiting the baby from contact with chemical dyes and maintaining a gentle diet.
Wet cough in a child without fever: how to treat, folk remedies, Komarovsky
With pathological processes in the upper and lower respiratory tract, the child develops a wet cough without fever. We'll tell you how to treat it, including medications and folk remedies, as recommended by E. Komarovsky.
What is a wet cough and why does it occur?
When irritants such as sputum, allergens, dust and polluted or smoky air enter the nasopharynx, special nerve endings send an impulse to the brain about the presence of a foreign substance. A signal is then sent to the chest and abdominal muscles through the spinal cord so that they can contract quickly.
Sudden movements of the respiratory muscles at high speed (up to 130 m/sec) push a stream of air through the mouth. This impulse helps to displace harmful irritants and sometimes even injures the mucous membrane of the throat. Cough is the most important protective reflex of the body of every person.
Such an involuntary reaction can prevent mucus or other foreign substances from entering the lungs and bronchi. There are two types of cough:
- wet (or productive);
- dry.
The first type is characterized by increased mucus production, and the latter occurs mainly at the very beginning of a respiratory disease.
Dry intensifies from a strong inhalation, after physical activity, and wet intensifies only at night, since in a horizontal position the lumen of the larynx physiologically becomes smaller.
If in a healthy child it is equal to the thickness of the little finger, then during a period of respiratory disease, accompanied by swelling of the throat and excessive mucus secretion, it narrows two more times.
Thus, when inhaling, air resistance increases several times, and this, in turn, provokes an attack of productive coughing. The patient may feel as if something is stuck in the throat or chest. Sometimes when you cough, mucus gets into your mouth.
The entire respiratory system is covered with mucous membranes. In a patient, the production of sputum, a secretion secreted by the epithelium of the respiratory tract, increases up to 15 times (normally in an adult up to 100 ml/day).
In addition, exudate from the nose sometimes does not come forward, but flows imperceptibly down the back wall of the throat. In general, mucus is designed to moisturize, protect and cleanse the respiratory tract of food and various contaminants.
Until its quantity becomes critical, the cilia covering the epithelium freely push it from the bottom up, from where, with the help of the swallowing reflex, it imperceptibly enters the stomach and dissolves along with other products in an acidic environment.
Dangerous symptoms in a child
Before treating a cough without raising the temperature, you need to identify the reasons for its occurrence in the child. It can indicate not only a cold, but also serious health problems. Acute respiratory disease (ARVI, rhinitis, sinusitis, pharyngitis) is characterized by the presence of fever and general weakness of the body.
If a wet cough continues for more than 2 weeks, it may be caused by:
- Bronchitis.
- Pneumonia.
- Allergies or asthma.
- COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).
- Cystic fibrosis.
- Neoplasms of the bronchopulmonary system.
- Cystic fibrosis.
- Helminthic infestations (helminthiasis).
- Tuberculosis.
- Passive smoking and poor environment.
- X-ray and fluorography of the chest.
- Various blood and urine tests.
- Clinical sputum analysis.
- CT and MRI.
- ECG and ultrasound of the heart.
- FGDS (fibrogastroduodenoscopy).
- Bronchoscopy (with biopsy).
- Laryngoscopy.
- Allergological research.
- Stool examination.
- rapid penetration of the drug into the epithelium;
- moisturizing and thinning sputum;
- acceleration of blood circulation in tissues;
- relieving spasms.
In chronic diseases, a slight temperature is often observed, but in rare cases this symptom is absent. In a pathological situation, sputum clogs the lumen of the larynx and branches of the bronchi, interfering with breathing.
Interesting! How to treat a dry cough in a child
Diagnosis of wet cough
To diagnose a cough, the attending physician needs to collect as detailed anamnesis as possible and analyze the patient’s complaints. We need to find out how long it lasts and how severe the symptoms are.
In most cases, a simple visual examination of the respiratory tract is sufficient for this: the pharynx, nasal canal, ligaments, larynx. Then an auditory assessment of breathing characteristics is performed using a special device - a phonendoscope.
If symptoms are prolonged and severe, accompanied by weight loss and fatigue, your doctor may order additional tests, which include:
Symptoms of a cold or flu can be seen immediately, as they are characterized by the presence of fever and a sickly appearance. But there are times when, apart from coughing, nothing else bothers the baby.
Then you need, firstly, to exclude the presence of pneumonia using x-ray methods, then check for the presence of viral and infectious diseases. Also, make sure there is no foreign body in your throat or nose.
If something gets into the lower respiratory tract, this may be accompanied by swelling of one lung, over which weakened and often hoarse breathing is observed.
Interesting! Why does a child have a lump behind his ear?
Methods for treating wet cough in children at home
Treatment of a wet cough in a child without fever depends on the causes of the disease. When it occurs against the background of an allergy, the first thing to do is get rid of the allergen. Taking antihistamines can cleanse the body of accumulated allergens.
Often, a wet cough caused by a virus does not require specific treatment. Recovery will take its course.
Patient care and indoor climate
Dry air can dry out the airways and thereby cause the onset of an inflammatory process. To achieve the required humidity, you can use a regular towel, placing it on the radiator, or a household air humidifier (steam or ultrasonic).
To quickly cure a wet cough without fever in a child, you need to create the right microclimate in the room. Humid (60-70%) and cold air (from 16 to 18 degrees) will help defeat viscous and thick sputum. You need to ventilate the room more often.
Drinking regime
Drinking plenty of warm fluids is also indicated, which can itself thin the mucus. Do not give it hot, otherwise you may burn your irritated throat. Cold also interferes with good blood circulation and mucus secretion, and can also cause discomfort.
Alkaline mineral waters are good for dissolving thick mucus. The total volume drunk should be at least 50-100 ml for each kg of the child’s weight. That is, if a child weighs 10 kg, then he should take about 1 liter of fluid per day, respectively, with a weight of more than 15 kg - up to 2 liters. In adults, this amount is 30 ml/kg of body weight plus another half liter.
Drainage massage
The fight against thickened, poorly flowing mucus sometimes drags on. One of the surest ways to treat cough without fever in children is drainage massage.
The mother or the person who will do it should have their nails cut short so as not to scratch the delicate skin. You need to wash your hands with soap. You can use massage oils with a small amount of fragrance to prevent the child from developing allergies, or use a simple baby cream.
The main thing is to position the child correctly so that the head is slightly lower than the chest. It is better to start with stroking to warm up your hands and muscles, then perform patting and vibration movements for 10 minutes.
After the procedure, it is useful to perform breathing exercises so that the child can cough well. Then it is best to provide the patient with peace, wrap him in a warm towel and let him rest.
Traditional methods and inhalations
Pine buds are a great help. They have an expectorant and wound-healing, as well as a diuretic, choleretic, and disinfectant effect.
The annotation for pharmacy preparations indicates a contraindication for children by age. However, traditional medicine argues with this.
To prepare the decoction, add a tablespoon of kidneys to 500 ml of milk or water and simmer over low heat for about an hour. Give the strained warm drink 2 tablespoons 3-4 times a day. In addition, you can make steam inhalations with an infusion of pine buds.
Hot inhalations can be easily performed at home without special equipment. To do this, just cover your head with a towel and breathe over a pan of hot infusion. Be careful not to accidentally burn your child.
And for cold inhalations you will need a special ultrasonic device called a nebulizer. It can be used at home and even from a very young age.
Advantages:
Badger fat is another effective cough remedy. A child over 5 years old can be given 1/3 teaspoon 3 times a day before meals.
The product can be used externally from infancy, rubbing the chest, feet and back. Be sure to consult your doctor in advance!
Aloe juice can achieve good results if taken with ghee and honey mixed in equal quantities. The product is consumed for 5 days, 4 times a day before meals. Before cooking, it is advisable to store aloe leaves in the refrigerator for 10 days.
Preparations for the treatment of wet cough in children
The problem is that sometimes a bacterial infection is associated with the virus, which requires antibiotics. In this case, as a rule, there is a sharp increase in temperature. Medicines are taken under the strict supervision of a doctor, according to the prescribed dosage.
The following are recognized as effective remedies for wet cough:
If you have trouble sleeping, you can use mucolytics, which thin the sputum, to relieve your cough. However, children under 5 years of age should not be given over-the-counter medications, especially those with an expectorant effect.
Antipyretics, antispasmodics and analgesics are used. Physiotherapeutic procedures have a good effect.
Doctor Komarovsky about wet cough
The famous Ukrainian pediatrician Evgeniy Olegovich Komarovsky categorically advises against taking mucolytics from the first day of coughing.
In his opinion, taking expectorant drugs is not only useless, but even harmful, since these drugs contribute not only to dilution, but also to increased secretion of mucus, which children are physically unable to cough up due to the physiologically narrower (compared to adults) lumen of the respiratory tract. tract and weak pectoral muscles.
When ventilation of the lungs is impaired, favorable conditions are formed for the proliferation of pathogenic microorganisms - pathogens. Illness is not a reason to give up your usual routine if you don’t have a fever.
You can continue to walk and take a bath, even go to the pool, if the doctor does not object. After taking all the necessary measures, you need to accustom your baby to the basic rules of personal hygiene, and then no germs will be able to penetrate his body.
Summing up
Source: https://wonderfullady.ru/health/vlazhnyj-kashel-u-rebenka-bez-temperatury-chem-lechit-narodnye-sredstva-komarovskij.html
How to treat a cough without fever
Cough in children should be treated only after the diagnosis has been correctly determined. To get rid of a cough, you first need to get rid of the cause that caused it in the child.
The general rule when treating any type of cough is to drink plenty of fluids at room temperature. The most effective are decoctions based on honey, raspberries, blueberries and lingonberries.
However, the doctor once again emphasizes that there is no need to treat children for cough using the Internet. On the Internet you can only find out the main symptoms of the disease you suspect. And only a healthcare specialist can prescribe treatment, especially for children.
To become more familiar with Dr. Komarovsky’s recommendations, we advise you to listen to the video lesson, from which each of you can take a lot of useful information for yourself. Firstly, you will find out whether the child’s systematic coughing can cause a complication, while no cold symptoms are observed: there is no high fever, runny nose or headache. In this case, the cough does not stop for more than a week. Is treatment necessary in this situation?
A video consultation with Dr. Komarovsky will allow you to learn a lot of new and useful information about maintaining the health of children.
Advice from Dr. Komarovsky
Pediatrician Evgeniy Komarovsky has extensive experience in treating young children. It will prevent the development of many dangerous diseases in weakened children. By following his recommendations and advice when treating children, parents usually quickly cope with various infectious and respiratory diseases, which are most common at an early age.
Evgeny Komarovsky wrote and published a book that highlights the problem of cough in small children, as well as ways to effectively combat it without harming the patient. Komarovsky recommends that parents prepare in advance for such an illness, since 98% of young children will develop a cough sooner or later.
After consulting with your doctor, you can purchase medications ahead of schedule that will alleviate the symptoms of infectious diseases. You can keep medications in the form of tablets or syrup in your first aid kit. Most often, doctors prescribe Lazolvan, Ambrobene, Sinekod, Gedelix, Mucaltin and other drugs. When the parents determine the cause of the disease, they can immediately begin to treat the baby, without waiting for the symptoms to worsen.