Winter sickness in kids: Dr Golly, Daniel Golshevsky, on vaccines, RSV influenza and managing sickness

If the cold snap didn’t tell you, the onslaught of sickness will have done it: winter is officially here. 

This winter, there’s a lot more talk about vaccines, like the one for RSV, and so many parents are already dealing with the dreaded viruses coming home from school and daycare. 

So, with so much information flying around, we spoke to Melbourne-based paediatrician Dr Golly about what you need to know about these new vaccines and what else parents can do to protect their kids from winter sickness. 

Dr Golly’s biggest piece of advice for parents who are feeling a bit overwhelmed about additional vaccines is to talk to your family doctor about what you, and your kids, actually need. 

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“All my advice here, in my book and on social media, is general in nature. The health system is here to support you, so ask your doctor about what YOUR family needs – this may change year to year,” he explained. 

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“The new RSV vaccine is a game-changer. In a four-year period, over 100,000 babies in Australia were hospitalised with RSV, but we can decrease this number drastically by vaccinating pregnant mothers.”

The big thing he wants parents to know is that medicine does need personalised care and said, “If you’re reading this, the message is to talk to your doctor about what your family needs.” 

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While vaccines are conversations to have with your doctor, Dr Golly gave a little bit of insight into the two of the ones on the radar for a lot of families right now: RSV and Influenza. 

Dr Golly explained that with the new RSV vaccine, it is best for a pregnant woman to have it between “28 and 36 weeks pregnant”. 

“If she hasn’t had it two weeks prior to birth, enough time for the antibodies to reach the placenta, we will now make it available to newborns,” he said.

“Beyond this, it’s largely for the immunocompromised.”

The other vaccine is for Influenza, which Dr Golly stressed is not just “the common cold”. 

“Talk to your local doctor about the specific needs of your family, but in general, I recommend everyone in the family (children from six months) get it annually,” he said. 

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There are more things you can do at home to try to protect your kids against sickness. 

“Sleep! This is the most powerful medicine we have, for maximising all areas of development, health maintenance and disease minimisation,” said Dr Golly. 

He also advised to stay hydrated, eat the rainbow, keep up to date with your immunisation schedule and keep up good hand hygiene. 

Now, you can try as hard as you can to prevent sickness, but it’s not always going to stop it getting into your household.

So when it comes to minimising the germs once your kids have them, Dr Golly has some tips.

“Keep infectious children isolated as much as possible,” he said. “I’m a father of three, so I understand that this one is really tricky!

“Teach your kids to cough and sneeze into a tissue or their elbow.”

And lastly, clean absolutely everything.

“Clean everything they touch: regularly clean surfaces with hot soapy water, followed by a bleached base disinfectant,” he said.

“This means kitchen countertops, bathroom surfaces, doorknobs and light switches. Follow all the safety packaging guidelines for bleach solution – if not used correctly, it’s potentially toxic.”

When it comes to looking after your family in terms of sickness, he stressed that if you are unsure about anything or need more information, head to your family doctor to talk through it all.

Always seek the guidance of your doctor or other qualified health professional with any questions you may have regarding your or your child’s health.

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