Many things can affect how your body responds to a symptom and what kind of care you may need. These include:

• Your age. Babies and older adults tend to get sicker quicker.
• Your overall health. If you have a condition such as diabetes, HIV, cancer, or heart disease, you may need to pay closer attention to certain symptoms and seek care sooner.
• Medicines you take. Certain medicines, such as blood thinners (anticoagulants), medicines that suppress the immune system like steroids or chemotherapy, or natural health products can cause symptoms or make them worse.
• Recent health events, such as surgery or injury. These kinds of events can cause symptoms afterwards or make them more serious.
• Your health habits and lifestyle, such as eating and exercise habits, smoking, alcohol or drug use, sexual history, and travel.

Symptoms of difficulty breathing can range from mild to severe. For example:

• You may feel a little out of breath but still be able to talk (mild difficulty breathing), or you may be so out of breath that you cannot talk at all (severe difficulty breathing).
• It may be getting hard to breathe with activity (mild difficulty breathing), or you may have to work very hard to breathe even when you're at rest (severe difficulty breathing).

Severe trouble breathing means:

• You cannot talk at all.
• You have to work very hard to breathe.
• You feel like you can't get enough air.
• You do not feel alert or cannot think clearly.

Moderate trouble breathing means:

• It's hard to talk in full sentences.
• It's hard to breathe with activity.

Mild trouble breathing means:

• You feel a little out of breath but can still talk.
• It's becoming hard to breathe with activity.

Severe trouble breathing means:

• The child cannot eat or talk because he or she is breathing so hard.
• The child's nostrils are flaring and the belly is moving in and out with every breath.
• The child seems to be tiring out.
• The child seems very sleepy or confused.

Moderate trouble breathing means:

• The child is breathing a lot faster than usual.
• The child has to take breaks from eating or talking to breathe.
• The nostrils flare or the belly moves in and out at times when the child breathes.

Mild trouble breathing means:

• The child is breathing a little faster than usual.
• The child seems a little out of breath but can still eat or talk.

Symptoms of infection in the nose may include:

• Increased pain, swelling, warmth, or redness around the nose.
• Pus or smelly drainage from the nose.
• Fever.

Disc batteries are small, round batteries used in toys, cameras, watches, and other devices. Because of the chemicals they can release, they can cause serious problems if they are swallowed or get stuck in an ear or the nose. Small magnets used in household items and objects that contain lead (such as bullets, buckshot, fishing weights and sinkers, and some toys) also can cause problems if swallowed.

• If a disc battery is stuck in the ear or nose:
  • The battery needs to be removed right away—within 1 hour if possible.
  • Use tweezers to try to remove the battery. If you can't remove it, get medical help.

• If you have swallowed a disc battery, magnet, or lead object:
  • Get medical help right away.
  • Do not try to vomit.
  • Do not eat or drink anything.

There are a couple of ways to remove an object from the nose:

• On the side that does not contain that object, press the nostril closed. Then blow hard through the nostril on the other side.
• If your child can stay calm and you can see the object and grasp it, try to remove the object with tweezers. Do not try to grasp round objects because you could push the object farther back into the nostril. (Be careful not to hurt the inside of the nose with the tweezers.)

To remove an object from a child's nose, you can also try the "kiss" technique:

• On the side that doesn't contain the object, press the nostril closed with your finger. (Or have the child do it, if he or she is old enough.)
• Then blow a puff of air into the child's mouth. You may need to repeat this several times. The pressure will help push the object out of the nose.

Don't try this if it makes you nervous or if the child gets upset or says it hurts.

Certain health conditions and medicines weaken the immune system's ability to fight off infection and illness. Some examples in adults are:

• Diseases such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and HIV/AIDS.
• Long-term alcohol and drug problems.
• Steroid medicines, which may be used to treat a variety of conditions.
• Chemotherapy and radiation therapy for cancer.
• Other medicines used to treat autoimmune disease.
• Medicines taken after organ transplant.
• Not having a spleen.

Certain health conditions and medicines weaken the immune system's ability to fight off infection and illness. Some examples in children are:

• Diseases such as diabetes, cystic fibrosis, sickle cell disease, and congenital heart disease.
• Steroid medicines, which are used to treat a variety of conditions.
• Medicines taken after organ transplant.
• Chemotherapy and radiation therapy for cancer.
• Not having a spleen.