🌿 Folk Prescriptions

"Up to 50% of children don’t need to visit hospitals repeatedly," said Dr. Wang Guowei, head of outpatient office at Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. He refers to parents who bring their child to one hospital in the morning, give medication, but when fever persists, rush them to another hospital. With the change of seasons, cold season returns. According to monitoring by Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, this year’s flu activity in Beijing is expected to rise. Children who are generally weak often prompt anxious parents to rush them to multiple hospitals whenever they have minor ailments. Having worked as a pediatrician for ten years, Dr. Wang notes this trend is increasing. While parents’ anxiety is understandable, every illness follows a natural course. Fever from upper respiratory tract infection or flu typically lasts for a period before symptoms subside. Many parents lack basic medical knowledge and panic when their child develops a fever. Clinical observations by Dr. Wang indicate that about 30%–50% of parents seek a second hospital after giving medicine only once or twice without seeing immediate improvement. Since doctors have different prescribing habits, medications are often changed prematurely before previous drugs have time to take effect. With numerous antibiotics available today, misuse is easy. Autumn and winter are peak seasons for respiratory diseases like flu. Those with weak constitutions are prone to cross-infection in hospitals. Dr. Wang advises parents: if a child shows breathing difficulties, rapid pulse, cyanosis around the nostrils, or lethargy, seek medical help immediately. However, visiting multiple hospitals daily without significant changes in condition is unnecessary.
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