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18 month old with recurrent viral infections
18 month old daughter with 25+ infections/recurrent fevers. 6 ear infections with PE tubes placed at 6 months, hand foot and mouth a few weeks after tubes, rsv, and flu. More recently illnesses have look like high temperatures (102-105.6) with runny nose/congestion sometimes but more often no other symptoms. Every time she is brought to the doctor or these episodes they always run the normal RSV, Strep, and Influenza A/B tests... all are ALWAYS negative. Episodes were every 2-3 weeks and are now every 10 days on the dot. During high fever episodes she is lethargic, shaky, miserable, moans and just wants to be held or sleep. It is a blessing that she has not had febrile seizures. Temps come down to low 100s with tylenol and motrin. X-ray of sinuses showed sinus infection, which we thought we had the answer but two weeks exactly she was sick again with her typical temps.
For example, since April 1st she was hospitalized for a week with adenovirus. In the hospital chest x-ray showed probable pneumonia and prior to d/c CT (yes CT on an 18 month old) was done and showed that her sinuses are clear. Ultrasound of her kidneys and bladder completed in the hospital which looked fine. Urine samples did not grow anything so UTIs are ruled out. Following discharge, she had croup two weeks later while on antibiotics, two days after croup she had an ear infection, two weeks after ear infection she had five days of unexplained fevers (tested negative for RSV, Influenza A/B and strep), two days after fever broke she threw up six times and then slept for 14 hours straight. Ten days after throwing up she spiked her normal 104 temperature, green snotty nose (she has had a runny/snotty nose for a few days). Has a peanut allergy, irrigate nose at night and has a prescribed nasal spray am/pm and on montelukast.
She been to two different immunologists as well as a rheumatologist. Blood panels recently done and showed ANA- 1:160, elevated CRP levels and that she is anemic (she eats a lot of meat but I know it is common). Immunology has ruled out immunodeficiency’s and rheumatology has ruled out autoimmune disorders. Both refer us back to the other or say she is “normal”. We do not feel like we are getting answers as to why she is getting so ill so frequently and routine.
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Hi @bac10, welcome to Connect. I can see why you are concerned. I know from experience that kids and toddlers, especially those that go to daycare, can be frequently sick with all sorts of different bugs. I also had a toddler go through hand, foot, and mouth, as well as what were unconfirmed absence seizures for a brief period. I can't imagine having to deal with the frequency of infections and illnesses that you having to.
Here is a video Q&A with Angela Mattke, M.D., who hosts a regular series called Ask the Mayo Mom, about Common Infections in Children and When to Worry It Could Be Something More, https://youtu.be/oNGrCIlJpEQ.
@bac10, while it is encouraging to here that your daughter does not present with an immunodeficiency or autoimmune disorder, I can understand why you are frustrated without a diagnosis or reason for all of the infections. While I am not a medical professional, has one of your providers talked about environmental factors as being a possibility? Does your daughter go to a daycare where other children are frequently sick?
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1 ReactionThank you for the reply, she has had some allergy testing done and the daycare she is at is not very large and other kids there are rarely sick in comparison to her and if they are they are out for maybe a day with 101 102 fevers not 5 days with 104+ fevers, our provider has been doing this for 20+ years and has expressed concern on how she has never seen a kid this sick with such high fevers so often on top of that every time she is ill no other kid at daycare is sick nor do my wife or I ever get sick with whatever infection she has. One of the immunologist we have met with referred us onto Cincinnati Children's to try and get a definitive answer as to whats going on. I didn't know if you have came across any remotely similar cases as ours? Thanks
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1 ReactionHi @bac10,
I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter and all that your family is going through. As a parent myself, i can imagine how very worried you must be, especially with no definitive diagnosis! I'm also tagging Connect members @miche who along with @jhrbts and @lotsostufffailing talked about CVID or Common Variable Immune Deficiency; I hope they return with some more information that might help, as they had posted quite a while ago in this discussion:
– https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/cvid/
I'd also like to introduce you to some of Connect's Mentors to see if they may have more insight; please meet @johnbishop @hopeful33250 @gailb and @windwalker.
In the meantime, I found two very informative papers on unexplained fever and recurrent infections in young children, which I'd sincerely encourage you to read. You can view both studies here:
– https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC261750/
– https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3377046/
@bac10, I realize that this is stressful and that you're doing all that you can. We're here to help.
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2 ReactionsHello @bac10
I can only imagine your concern and I'm so sorry to hear of an 18 month old child having such a difficult time of it. It sounds as if you are really advocating for your daughter - that is wonderful! I can imagine your frustration, though, when all of these specialists cannot come up with some type of diagnosis or treatment plan.
While I don't have any personal experience with this type of problem, I agree that it might be good to look into environmental problems. Do you live in the city or a rural area? A single family home or a multiple-home complex (like an apartment or condo)? Any animals in the home (thinking especially of birds).
As everyone else has said, I'm not a medical professional, but these are just some thoughts you might explore. I'm wishing you well and will pray for you.
I look forward to hearing from you again.
Teresa
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2 ReactionsHi @bac10,
I wished I had something concrete for you. I know you are hurting for your daughter and I'm hoping you get some answers soon. I don't know if this applies or not but I was listening to the news this morning and heard about a new FDA warning about a drug used in teething gel that affects the oxygen that is supplied to the brain. The drug Benzocaine is the culprit.
FDA Warning - Do Teething Babies Need Medicine on Their Gums? No
-- https://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm385817.htm
ValleyMorningStar.com - FDA warns teething medicines unsafe, wants them off shelves
-- http://www.valleymorningstar.com/life/health_wellness/fda-warns-teething-medicines-unsafe-wants-them-off-shelves/article_83c4e63d-0e96-59a4-8726-127dc49281ac.html
John
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1 Reaction@bac10,
Another favorite search tool of mine is Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com/). It is good when you are trying to find recent research articles. I did a search for your phrase "recurrent viral infections in infants" and found the following links that may provide some helpful information:
-- https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=1%2C24&as_ylo=2018&as_vis=1&q=recurrent+viral+infections+in+infants&btnG=
I clicked the 2018 link at the top left to show the links in newest to oldest order which is another reason I use the tool.
John
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2 Reactions@johnbishop Those are great sources of info John. I am glad to gain the 'scholar.google' to my 'go to' list.
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2 Reactions@bac10, Your story breaks my heart. I hope you get answers soon. Have they done a sputem test to see if there could be some kind of odd lung infection? If that test is done, that can pinpoint precisely what germ the culprit is; provided it is being caused by a lung infection. I mention this because mine went undetected for years because no doctor thought to do a sputem lab test. I am suspecting lung issues since everything else checks out with your daughter & you mentioned croup. Food allergies can also wreak havok with your immune system and cause lung issues. Have you tried any kind of elimimation diet? I hope you find answers soon. Please keep us posted. Hugs and prayers for your family. Terri
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1 ReactionThank you for the reply, we have no pets and live in rural area in a regular home. We have had some allergy testing done but will be looking into it more thank you again.
Thank you for your reply and the great information we will look into this more and inquire about it in our next appointment. She does have a peanut allergy; all other food allergy test were negative. Thanks again
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