Symptom Checker
Exposure to an infection means a child has been close enough to a contagious person, animal or contaminated source that transmission may have occurred.
Respiratory droplets, direct contact, contaminated food or water, blood, body fluids, insects and other routes can spread infections. The route depends on the specific germ.
The American Academy of Pediatrics publishes the guidance behind this page and keeps it current. Their Symptom Checker carries a question-by-question tool for individual symptoms, and it covers this subject as background rather than as a set of questions to work through.
Contact your pediatrician or another healthcare professional if:
Call 911 or get emergency care if:
Be seen today.
Every office keeps same-day appointments for illness and injury.
This evening or at the weekend.
Most offices run After Hours Care, by appointment rather than walk-in.
If you are worried, call. We would rather answer a question that turns out to be nothing.
