Checkup Newsroom

“His cough is sooo croupy!” When parents report a croupy cough, it means different things. Some parents call bad/deep/dry/wet/rattly coughs croupy. When I think of “croupy cough,” I mean “barky” like a dog or a seal. We are seeing quite a bit o...

A mom reached out to us, asking about the way her child stored food in his mouth. The stuffed cheeks reminded us of a chipmunk. And honestly, it sounded kind of cute. Until, we discussed the issue with one of our experts. Alaina Everitt, a license...

Let’s take a moment to appreciate the beautiful process of a fever. Yes, I’m a mega-dork for the functions of the human body ... and yes, I think fever is a great thing in most settings. Fever has been recognized as being around for thousands of y...

It’s 3 a.m. and your child wakes up feeling like an oven. Quick! Where’s your thermometer? The preceding message was a drill. A drill that I should practice more often because when the heat is on, I flame out every time. Let’s assume you are...

By Megan Cole, Emergency Department Nurse, Cook Children's Medical Center I have had the privilege of working in the Emergency Department at Cook Children’s for 10 years, with three of those years as a nurse. I often have people ask me, “How do yo...

1. When a child has a sore throat, in general, there is a 37 percent chance that it is strep (Group A Strep, aka, Streptococcus pyogenes) 2. Fifteen-20 percent of kids WITH NO SYMPTOMS AT ALL will be POSITIVE FOR STREP if tested. This means 15-20 ...

Along with routine questions about your child’s diet, growth and development, more and more pediatricians are asking children difficult questions about depression and thoughts about suicide. Kristen Pyrc, M.D., co-medical director of Psychiatry at...

It's hard to turn on the news and not see a story about the dangers of e-cigarettes or vaping.  As of Aug. 28, 2019, there have been nearly 200 reported incidents of vaping-related illness in 22 states, resulting in at least one death.  Earlier...

By Dr. Diane Arnaout Earlier this summer, my 17-year-old patient Tryston just wasn’t feeling like himself. “I was tired all the time. My energy was low. I was losing some weight.” Then, things quickly turned downhill. He started having chill...

School’s out for summer! It’s time for playing at the park, swimming and catching lightning bugs. Unfortunately, it’s also the time when I see many office visits related to insect bites and their complications. It seems like no matter how hard I try ...

The last thing Jeff Murray, M.D., wants to do is be interviewed for this story. It’s not about being rude or even shy, it’s just he wants to make darn sure the love is spread around for the people that make up the Neuro-Oncology Program at Cook Ch...