![]() ![]() One of the risks of a continued emphasis on COVID-19 testing is that when a child returns a negative result, the parent thinks “all good, my child doesn’t have coronavirus, they can go back to school”. Let’s remember there are 4.7 million children in Australia under 15 and each of them, particularly the younger ones, are likely to get multiple respiratory infections each year. We’re now performing more tests each day than we were at the height of the pandemic in late March.Īustralia’s high level of testing has undoubtedly played a significant role in our successful response to the COVID-19 pandemic.īut we now must ask ourselves whether, with potentially diminishing returns, it’s sustainable to keep testing every child with a cold for the foreseeable future. So in our current situation it’s much more likely your child’s fever or runny nose is caused by one of the common respiratory viruses, such as rhinovirus, that we see each winter. And only a small proportion of confirmed cases have been in children. This means fewer than 0.5% of tests have been positive. In the past month there have been less than 40 new cases nationally each day.Īround the country, since the pandemic began, we’ve performed more than two million tests and identified 7,521 cases. How likely is it my child will test positive to COVID-19?Īlthough Victoria is currently experiencing a spike, Australia has largely “flattened the curve”. You can also ask your GP if you’re not sure whether your child needs a test. But if your child is displaying any of these symptoms, the current federal government guidelines recommend they stay at home and get tested. It’s possible these could also be symptoms of a different respiratory infection. an acute respiratory infection (for example, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat) or.symptoms suggesting fever (such as night sweats or chills) or.It will ask you questions based on what we know to be common symptoms of COVID-19, including whether you or the person you’re caring for have: If your child is unwell you can check their symptoms using healthdirect’s coronavirus symptom checker. So how do I know if I should get my child tested? In general, COVID-19 in children is less severe than in adults. One-quarter of all GP visits in children under five in Australia are for respiratory tract infections.Ī recent review showed COVID-19 symptoms in children were typical of most acute respiratory infections and included fever, cough, sore throat, sneezing, muscle aches and fatigue. This number is highest among the youngest children. Generally, in their first 12 years, children can experience up to four to eight respiratory tract infections, or “colds”, per year. COVID-19 symptoms in kids resemble other respiratory infections And like most kids, your children often get coughs and colds during winter. Like most Australians, you haven’t recently travelled overseas or been in contact with anyone with COVID-19. You tell her “let’s see how you feel in the morning” and she happily goes off to sleep.īut you’re left wondering what you’ll do if her throat is still sore the next day - or if she’s developed other symptoms by then. She doesn’t have any other symptoms, and feels OK. ![]() It’s Sunday night, around 8pm, when your ten-year-old tells you she has a sore throat. ![]()
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