(WHTM) — The CVS MinuteClinic in York reports strep throat this week.

The providers of UPMC Children’s Community Pediatrics in York and Spring Grove continue to see many cases of strep throat and viral illness. Allergy symptoms have also been common this week.

Providers at UPMC say allergies should never cause a fever. Although some children feel a bit tired from their allergy symptoms, they should still be able to go to school and be active throughout the day. If your child appears ill, is feverish and complaining of a sore throat, is eating less, or has a wet cough, this is likely not allergies, and you should take them to their medical provider to see if it could be the flu, strep throat, or some other infection.

Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health Physicians Roseville Pediatrics reports many strep cases and viral illnesses, many of which are causing a fever.

They saw an increase in croup cases and continue to see seasonal allergy symptoms, including coughs, congestion, itchy eyes, and puffiness.

Dr. Joan Thode offered the following advice about fevers:

“Fevers are a battle weapon of the immune system to make it harder for a virus and sometimes bacteria, to survive. Once the immune system has triumphed, the fevers subside, and the child’s energy and appetite increase. The classification for a fever is 100.4 degrees in infants and 100.8 degrees in toddlers and children and teens.

Treatment with Tylenol or ibuprofen is based on the comfort of the child, not the number of degrees. Taking away the fever can make a child feel better and more likely to drink and stay hydrated. However, if your child has a 103-degree fever and is otherwise happily playing or hydrating, it is not imperative to treat it.

The most important thing you can do to help your child through an illness with a fever is to give them water. The higher temperature causes evaporation of water from the skin surface, and the typically low appetite and faster breathing can cause some dehydration. Your child will feel better overall if well-hydrated. *Babies younger than 6 months should be hydrated only with normally mixed formula or breastmilk – never with pure water – due to the immaturity of their kidneys.

All kids will breathe a little bit faster than their typical baseline when they have a high fever, as this is the body’s way of controlling the level of the fever by exhaling heat. The key is how much effort they are putting into breathing. Comfortable, slightly faster breathing is okay to observe at home, though very rapid breathing, over 50 breaths per minute that persists, or persistent expanding of the chest or belly in an exaggerated way for more than a minute or two is concerning insufficient oxygen. It’s all about how stressed your child looks while breathing.

Your child may appear fatigued and have low energy with a fever, since generating increased degrees of body heat requires a lot of energy expenditure. Kids are not at a concerning level of true lethargy until they struggle to wake up and cannot maintain any coherent conversation or response due to immediately falling back asleep. To test for true lethargy in older kids, ask them a question. If they can answer it appropriately, they are alert. In younger, preverbal kids, try to have them engage in a toy or book that they like. If they respond appropriately, they are alert. True lethargy is a reason to call your physician right away

All fevers lasting five consecutive days should be evaluated by a physician in the office, regardless of how your child appears, as they will likely need additional testing.”