This is too minor to bother the Doctor with.

We think that we are best placed to say what is trivial and what is not. If you have a concern about your health or that of your child, then it is not too minor to bring to us. This is what we are here for. As well as diagnosing and treating major serious health problems, our job is to help you with minor ailments too. Even if it is just advice on what to buy from the Chemist yourself, or just reassurance that there is nothing more sinister behind everyday symptoms. If it is causing you concern, then you are justified in seeking advice. If all that we did was treat life threatening problems then we would not have much to do. Common minor ailments make up over 75% of or consultations.

The Doctor will be angry with me for pestering her too often

No she will not. We do not consider consultations or phone advice to be pestering us. Whilst we would not expect to be consulted about every little ache, pain or sniff, we do not grudge time spent on minor problems. Neither do we want to see people crawling in with serious advanced conditions, because they did not want to trouble the Doctor whilst the problem could still be treated.

It will be "just a virus" again and I will feel foolish.

The overwhelming majority of what we spend our consultations on could be called "just a virus". Minor viral illnesses are very common, there are a lot of them about. This does not mean that they do not need attention. When advising people about their, or their kids' viruses we do our best to try to explain why this does not need special treatment, or what tells us there is no cause for concern. We do not expect people to be struggling at home with just half an aspirin for a dose of pneumonia, however we would hope that having been given the same advice about the same symptoms on a number of occasions, that people may learn to recognose "another cold or sore throat" as being just another cold or sore throat, and not the first symptom of a deadly cancer. Whilst we are always happy to see and advise people, we would hope that over time people may come to trust their own judgement a little, and not rush to the Surgery immediatly the slightest symptom appears.

How can you tell that it is not meningitis ?

Usually we can't. It is just not possible to say with absolute certainty that any poorly child could not be displaying the early symptoms of memingitis. However Meningitis is fortunately a rare disease despite the media hype. Colds, sore throats and other childhood feverish illnesses are of course very common, so even though the symptoms are identical to those of early meningitis, the chance of any feverish child who walks in through the door having Meningitis is incredibly small. More to the point, if a child has got recognisable, diagnosable signs of meningitis then he will not be walking anywhere. Certainly with the more serious forms of Meningitis by the time the signs are present, to make the diagnosis, the child is very obviously seriously ill. See more about Meningitis.