Exams and Tests

If the flu is going around during flu season, the doctor may judge the child to have flu simply from observing the classic symptoms such as fever, listlessness, and breathing problems in the upper respiratory tract.

• The doctor may take swabs of mucus from the nose or throat and send them for laboratory analysis. Several rapid diagnostic kits are now available with a fairly high degree of accuracy.



• Sometimes a chest x-ray film may be taken to make sure the child does not have pneumonia.