20 month old baby has had a runny, congested nose for 12 days and has been coughing for 1 week. His nose is not getting any better. What should I do?

Hello Ma'am, let's take a look at this together.

First of all, nasal washing by irrigation with a syringe or bottle, as suggested by Sainte-Justine Hospital, would be more effective than a technique with a simple spray, such as with Hydrasense. I therefore invite you to consult the Sainte-Justine reference for the steps to follow regarding nasal hygiene: https://www.chusj.org/getmedia/d81f7af6-a93c-4e86-9011-f523e13279a8/depliant_F-886_hygiene-nasale.pdf.aspx?ico=.pdf. You can start the method at 5 times a day for the first 2 days and then increase to 3 times a day. This will help decrease nasal congestion as well as coughing, which it associated with mucus running from the nose to the throat.

Finally, due to the pandemic setting at COVID-19, I also refer you to the symptom self-assessment resource with this link; https://covid19.quebec.ca/surveys/cdd2/introduction. It is a quick questionnaire to assess the child's symptoms, especially in the presence of cough, to better guide parents in the current context.

I hope I have answered your questions,

Maeva Di-Re Pharmacy Student, supervised by Alexandre Chagnon Pharmacist