ER Doctor Says Kids Are Hallucinating — a Symptom of Flu

• A mom and ER doctor said her 7-year-old daughter had recently started hallucinating and hearing voices.
• The pediatrician recognized that my daughter’s distress was a classic sign of an infection, so there was no panic.
• Fever, our body’s attempt to fight viruses like the flu, can cause short-term delirium.

One recent morning at 7am, Katherine McKinley found her sick daughter Marissa hallucinating.

“Mama, Mama, stop!” Marisa said. She explained that she heard people screaming unbearably.

McKinley tried to assuage the 7-year-old’s fears.

The pediatrician knew exactly what was going on with her daughter and was able to keep her cool. Marissa was sick and had other flu-like symptoms. The hallucinations I was experiencing were brief deliriums of exactly the same kind. filled her hospital last few weeks. This is the body’s battle signal against common invading viruses.

“as emergency doctorI’ve seen many other children hallucinating over the last few weeks,” McKinley said. Recent blog posts“All these young patients influenza positive.”

Why hallucinations are a hallmark of the flu

At the Canadian hospital where McKinley works, she said many sick children Recently, he complained:

• hear a loud noise
• Objects are considered too large or too far away
• Fear that someone or something is trying to harm you

These are all typical signs of delirium. heat used by our bodies to fight infection.

Our brains are sensitive to temperature changes, fever can cause hallucinations By interfering with normal activities. Attacks are generally short, lasting only a few minutes, and do not require medical attention.

fever in children 104 degrees Fahrenheit or higherdoes not respond process Things like Advil (ibuprofen) or Tylenol (acetaminophen), or if the patient is experiencing prolonged episodes of confusion (more than a few minutes), it’s time to seek help.

But most of the time, “your little one will be fine,” said McKinley. Doctors recommend “alternating Advil and Tylenol with her every three hours” to lower the patient’s fever.

“We went back to playing in the snow and heard nothing but the laughter of healthy children,” the mom and ER doctor happily report.