As Covid cases surge among children, so are parents' concerns. Over the last 30-days, preliminary data coming from the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) show there were 48,317 cases of Covid-19 reported amongst those under 18-years-old.

But, experts, including pediatrician Dr. John Cox, say it's important for worried parents to look beyond the raw numbers.

"The numbers are up and kids have not been on the planet long enough," Cox said. "They're more susceptible to all these viruses."

Children are especially susceptible to illness as we enter cold & flu season. 

One difficulty this year can be deciphering between Covid-like symptoms and flu-like symptoms in a child, since they tend to overlap.

Cox says that among influenza-infected patients he has seen this year, they tend to present with symptoms including a higher fever, aches and chills.

In contrast, he said Covid-infected patients tend to come to him with more cold-like symptoms including a headache, sore throat, and sinus congestion.

While these are his observations, Dr. Cox says the only real way of knowing is getting tested, and making sure in doing so, parents keep their children home if they feel any symptoms.


Other best practices he says include ensuring your child stays properly hydrated, well rested, giving them fever-reducing medicines like Tylenol/Advil, monitoring their symptoms closely and, if you're really worried, scheduling what Dr. Cox calls a "peace of mind visit," with your pediatrician.

"If you're nervous and you just want to be seen, I tell my parents to call and let us know that," Cox said.

 He says parents should seek immediate medical attention if their child isn't drinking any fluids over a period of time, or if they report seeing their children's symptoms continue to deteriorate.

Though, all of this can for the most part be prevented, Dr. Cox says, if parents keep in mind the importance of prevention this time of year.

Prevention tips he gave include keeping your child on a well-rested sleep schedule, keeping them hydrated, making sure they're eating nutritious meals and taking multivitamins, taking proper Covid precautions with your child, and getting them a flu shot or Covid-19 vaccine if they're eligible.