West Yorkshire Healthier Together – a community initiative 

West Yorkshire Healthier Together is a free online tool that gives consistent, accurate and trustworthy healthcare advice to parents, carers, young people and professionals.

The information on the website has been reviewed by local paediatricians, GPs and clinicians across the region to ensure it aligns with current practices and procedures.

If you are worried about your child’s health visit the local website at www.wyhealthiertogether.nhs.uk

Use the quick links, search bar, or menus to find clear advice with easy-to-use traffic light guide, red, amber, green found in the parents/carers section. This will help to identify when, where, and how you should seek help for your poorly baby or child.

Group A strep and scarlet fever 

There are currently high rates of Group A strep and scarlet fever in the UK.

It’s a common and usually mild illness but kids do need antibiotics so look out for a rash, fever, sort throat and a red tongue (strawberry tongue).

For more information and when to seek help visit https://wyhealthiertogether.nhs.uk/parentscarers/worried-your-child-unwell/Group-A-Strep-Scarlet-Fever

Kids’ health information hub

You can find lots of information about many common winter illnesses on the West Yorkshire Healthier Together website. Including: 

Coughs and colds

Coughs and colds are extremely common in young children.
Over the first year of life, your child is likely to have up to 8 of these
episodes.

• Coughing is the body’s natural way of clearing infection
• Most of these are likely to be caused by a virus. This means that antibiotics are of no benefit (and may actually result in side effects such as rash and diarrhoea, as well as increasing the risk of them developing antibiotic resistance)
• Having green snot or a noisy chest does not mean that your child has an infection requiring antibiotics. 
• It can sometimes be hard to identify the cause of a cough. In general, if it is associated with a runny nose, red eyes, ear pain or a wheeze, it is likely to be viral. Noisy chests are also common in young children with viral infections
• Coughing can wake a child in the night but does not mean the illness is more severe
• Children requiring antibiotics usually appear more unwell, with difficulty breathing, drowsiness, cold hands and feet and possibly blue lips – seek urgent medical attention if any of these features are present.