LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Norton Children's Hospital is seeing an increase in emergency room visits from kids with illnesses that are treatable at their pediatrician. And there are a few things you should know before you decide to take a sick child to the ER. 

Dr. Heather Felton, a pediatrician with Norton Children's Medical Group in the Tyler Park neighborhood, said the first thing parents should do is call their primary care physician or pediatrician. 

"It's always a good idea to start there, because they may give you advice on things to try at home that you haven't tried ye," she said. "They may say 'This is OK to wait, and you can go to the pediatrician's office in the morning.' Or they may say 'Yes, this sounds like an emergency.'"

Felton said there a lot of illnesses are caused by viruses. 

"This time of year, it's viral infections," she said. "But there are thousands of viruses that can cause these types of infections."

She said a lot of them receive similar symptom care because they're not treatable with antibiotics. And that typically means it's not necessary to got to the ER and clog up their ability to intake other children with emergency needs.

As for what illnesses, she said RSV, flu and COVID-19 are what most families are seeing. But, thankfully, none are spiking more than normal.

"We didn't see a lot (of COVID-19 cases) over the summer, which was really nice, but we have seen an increase in cases since then," Felton said. "And same thing with flu and RSV. So I would expect that to continue as we go through the winter months."

Felton said some good rules of thumb are keep your child home if they have a fever of 100.4 or more but also symptoms that cause your kids discomfort like trouble breathing or lack of appetite.

"But it's fine to start some at home treatments too," she said, adding that some at-home treatments include Tylenol or ibuprofen for fever, suctioning out the nose and honey and a humidifier for a cough.

To prevent getting sick, Felton said healthy diet and sleep go a long way, but don't forget about vaccines.

"We usually say flu before boo," she said. "That means get your flu shot before Halloween. So this is the perfect time of year to get your flu shot."

Norton has several venues that offer flu and COVID-9 vaccines, you can click here for flu, and here for COVID-19.

Copyright 2023 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.