(WSVN) - A concerned mother’s photo is going viral, warning parents to be alert over this deadly flu season.
Brodi Willard shared a photo of her 6-year-old son’s hives on Facebook. She says they thought it was just an allergic reaction, since her son had no other symptoms, but the boy tested positive for influenza.
“He has had NO symptoms,” her post reads. “No fever, no cough, and no runny nose. He only has hives.”
Willard said her son had come home from school with the hives, and every time he would scratch at them, more would appear. Changing his clothes and giving him a bath didn’t alleviate the problem, so she called the pediatrician.
That’s when she was told two other children had come to the doctor’s office that same day with the same symptoms, and both had tested positive for influenza.
Willard said she immediately took her son to the doctor, where he tested positive for Influenza B.
“Please keep watch on your children so if they develop hives, please call your pediatrician,” Willard wrote. “I have never heard of this symptom but it is obviously something to be on the lookout for.”
Since she posted it to Facebook on Friday, the photo of her son’s hives has been shared over 252,000 times.
The American Academy of Dermatology says colds and infections can cause hives. Though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention do not list hives as a possible symptom of the flu, it does note a rash as a possible warning sign.
Willard did not say if her son had been given a flu shot this season. The CDC notes that, because the influenza vaccine is made with eggs, those with an egg allergy can develop hives if given the shot.
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