Q: My son is 2 years 11 months old. He had fever so I took him to a child specialist who advised the antibiotic SECEF and SINO-COLD syrup for 4 days. The fever came down after 4 days. But again he had fever and this time too he gave the same medicines but the fever did not come down, his condition gradually deteriorated and I admitted my child. His blood and urine culture reports were OK but patches were found in his X-ray and the doctors started treatment for pneumonia (5 days i.v + 3 day oral). Again he developed fever and the doctor said it is viral. As we are staying in Jamshedpur, the scope of a good hospital is limited. Should I take him to some other place for diagnostic tests and is it normal to have fever at such short intervals? Please advise and help me take a decision.

A:It is not normal to have recurrent attacks of fever due to respiratory tract infections (pneumonia) very frequently. Most upper respiratory tract infections are due to viruses, but there are no definite tests available to confirm this. Diagnosis of bacterial infections needing antibiotic therapy is made by a good clinical examination supported by x-rays and blood tests. Sometimes repeated attacks of infections are due to undernutrition, deficiency of immune system or due to an anatomical abnormality of the lungs or heart. It should be possible to get the child evaluated at Jamshedpur in Tata Memorial Hospital, which I am told has good facilities.