Disease swapping between siblings is nothing new, but it can be problematic when a young baby gets a disease that they normally don't experience. For example, an uncareful sibling with strep throat may pass this disease to their baby brother or sister and become very upset about it. Thankfully, a child doctor can help with both problems. 

Strep Throat Is Often Swapped Between Siblings

Strep throat is a common childhood disease caused when the streptococcus bacteria that triggers it gets into the tissues of the throat. Thankfully, most babies rarely get this disease and are usually safe from it until they get older. However, the development of symptoms of this condition may take a few days in their siblings, during which time the baby may be handled or played with by their brother or sister.

Unfortunately, this bonding time can become quite scary if the sibling passes on strep throat to their baby brother or sister. The child who passed it on is likely to be very upset and feel ashamed, and the baby with the disease needs immediately care. Thankfully, a child doctor can help not only with the infected baby but also help to soothe the child who may have passed the disease to their sibling.

When a Child Doctor Can Help

Child doctors or pediatricians can handle all diseases that can affect a young child, such as strep throat. They will have the skills and the antibiotics necessary to help the baby with the strep throat. They will also know how to apply the medicine to make it more effective and can even show the parent of the child how to handle this process to ensure that they can do it properly when at home, too.

Just as importantly, the doctor can sit down with the sibling who may have passed strep throat to their baby and talk to them about what happened. They can calm the young one and explain that they weren't to blame for what happened – sometimes, people pass diseases in this way, and they shouldn't be too upset. They can then explain steps that the child can take to avoid such infections in the future.

And, if necessary, they can check the rest of the children in the family for strep throat or early symptoms. Doing so will help to ensure that this condition doesn't pass on to the rest of the family members and can help to reassure parents who are worried about a rash of such infections hurting their children for days or even weeks at a time.

To learn more, contact a resource like the Kitsap Children's Clinic LLP.

Share