It is normal to feel anxious when your child is ill. Sometimes their illness is obvious – they may have visible symptoms such as a runny nose. At other times it isn’t as easy to identify the problem even though you know your child best and can spot if something is wrong. Most illnesses such as sore throats and ear ache get better by themselves but it’s important that parents know what to do if their child is unwell and how to recognise the signs.
The new NHS Essex Child Health app has been designed to give parents, grandparents and carers across Essex NHS advice at their fingertips, to help look after their children’s health and recognise when they are unwell.
Many illnesses can now be treated at home with lots of rest and over-the-counter medicines. The NHS Essex Child Health app offers handy advice on some of these most common childhood illnesses, as well as helping you to understand when it’s better to chat to your school nurse, visit a local community pharmacist or GP, or to call NHS 111.
Health conditions covered within the app include:
- Coughs, colds and flu
- Diarrhoea and vomiting
- Chicken pox and measles
- Ear ache and tonsillitis
- Wheezing and breathing difficulties including bronchiolitis and asthma
- Headlice and threadworms
- Bumps, bruises and accidents
Information on mental health and wellbeing, healthy lifestyles and advice on some more serious conditions like meningitis and sepsis are also covered. And there’s a handy section on when you might want to consider keeping your child home from school.
The app is free to download for both Android and Apple. Just search for “NHS Essex Child Health”.
You can also download the app by clicking on one of the below buttons: