Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Preparing for your appointment
By Mayo Clinic staffYou're likely to start by seeing your family doctor or your child's doctor. Here's some information to help you get ready for your appointment, and what to expect from your doctor.
What you can do
- Write down any symptoms you or your child is experiencing, including any that may seem unrelated to an upper respiratory infection, and when they started.
- Write down key personal information, such as if your child was born prematurely or if he or she has a heart or lung problem.
- Write down questions to ask your doctor. Your time with your doctor is limited, so preparing a list of questions will help you make the most of your time together. List your questions from most important to least important in case time runs out.
- Write down details about day care or other potential exposures to respiratory infections.
For respiratory syncytial virus, some basic questions to ask your doctor include:
- What is likely causing these symptoms? Are there other possible causes?
- What tests might be needed?
- How long do symptoms usually last?
- What is the best course of action?
- Will I or my child need to take medication? If so, is there a generic alternative to the medicine you're prescribing?
- What can I do to make my child feel better?
- Are there any brochures or other printed material that I can take home with me? What Web sites do you recommend visiting?
- To what extent should I isolate my child while infected?
In addition to the questions that you've prepared to ask your doctor, don't hesitate to ask questions during your appointment at any time that you don't understand something.
What to expect from your doctor
Your doctor is likely to ask you a number of questions. Being ready to answer them may reserve time to go over any points you want to spend more time on. Your doctor may ask:
- When did you first notice symptoms?
- Have symptoms been continuous or occasional?
- How severe are your or your child's symptoms?
- What, if anything, seems to improve symptoms?
- What, if anything, appears to worsen symptoms?
- Is anyone else in the family ill? What symptoms does he or she have?
What you can do in the meantime
If your child has a fever, you can give him or her acetaminophen (Tylenol, others). Have your child drink plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration. Keeping your child upright and the air moist with a humidifier also may help ease congestion.
- American Academy of Pediatrics. Respiratory syncytial virus. In: Pickering LK, et al. Red Book: 2006 Report of the Committee on Infectious Diseases. 27th ed. Elk Grove, Ill.: American Academy of Pediatrics; 2006. http://aapredbook.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/2006/1/3.107. Accessed June 9, 2009.
- Barr FE, et al. Clinical features and diagnosis of respiratory syncytial virus infection. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 15, 2009.
- Peters TR, et al. Respiratory syncytial virus. In: Long SS, et al. Principles and Practices of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. 3rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/143546809-2/0/1679/229.html?tocnode=55244158&fromURL=229.html#4-u1.0-B978-0-443-06687-0..50228-9_4167. Accessed June 10, 2009.
- Respiratory syncytial virus infection (RSV): Infection and incidence. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/rsv/about/infection.html. Accessed June 10, 2009.
- Busselen S. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). In: Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2009. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2009. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/143685797-2/0/1701/508.html?tocnode=56571976&fromURL=508.html#4-u1.0-B978-0-323-04134-8..50021-5--subchapter11_10747. Accessed June 10, 2009.
- Respiratory syncytial virus infection (RSV): Transmission and prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/rsv/about/transmission.html. Accessed June 10, 2009.
- Perez-Yarza EG, et al. The association between respiratory syncytial virus infection and the development of childhood asthma: A systematic review of the literature. The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. 2007;26:733.
- Barr FE, et al. Treatment and prevention of respiratory syncytial virus infection. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 18, 2009.
- Ventre K, et al. Ribavirin for respiratory syncytial virus infection of the lower respiratory tract in infants and young children. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2007:CD000181.
