Four tips to distinguish colds and pneumonia in children

The symptoms of pneumonia are very similar to those of a cold, including cough, fever, lack of energy, and cold hands and feet. These symptoms often hide pneumonia under the "disguise" of a cold. Liang Baoluan, a senior nanny at Guangxi Yida Maternal and Child Health Center, said that four aspects can be used to determine whether a child has a cold or pneumonia.

When you have a cold, the fever is usually below 38°C and lasts for a short time, and can be significantly improved after taking antipyretics. However, if it is pneumonia, the fever is often above 38.5°C and persists, and there is no significant improvement after taking antipyretics.

During a cold, the cough will not be severe, with less phlegm and easy to cough up; during pneumonia, the cough is often severe and frequent, with a lot of phlegm that cannot be coughed up, and may even be accompanied by wheezing and shortness of breath. Newborns will refuse to eat or drink and foam at the mouth, but they may not necessarily have symptoms of coughing.

Even if a child with a cold is not in good spirits, he or she will recover quickly after the fever subsides. However, a child with pneumonia will be listless, irritable, and cry. Even if the fever subsides, he or she will not be willing to move. Sometimes his or her face will turn blue and his or her appetite will decrease.

You can listen to your child's chest and lungs to see if there are bubbling sounds. If there is no bubbling sound, it is a cold; if there is, it is pneumonia.