Kids
when diseased can be real pain the back and I doubt if there would be any
parent who would refuse ,agreeing to this dictum. The most troublesome feature
about kids is that they won’t do anything but cry. These poor little angels have no idea what’s
happening to them and the only way to let the world know there’s something
wrong is- to cry. Ranging from a variety of conditions , right from the scommon cough, to a deadly viral infection, all these symptoms can be masked by a baby's cry. As a parent, one needs to know the commonly presenting
diseases in children and act according to it in their existing times. With that
goal in mind, here are some worthy conditions in children everyone should know
about:
- Common cold- No person on earth has ever managed to evade
from this simple infection. Not just kids, common cold is also a common
encounter in adults. Going by the numbers, if we talk about India, an adult has
a bout of common cold once every 20 days! Nothing much for treatment, just some
rest and gargling has proved to be a wonderful healer. Antibiotics are usually not encouraged for this simple infection.
-
Viral infection – the
most commonly encountered virus is known as RS virus, the kid presents with
cough and cold. Treatment is completely conservative. In case of severe disease, anti viral drugs can be given after hospital admission
-
Chicken pox – a VERY common disease of the young, chickenpox
presents as small dark blisters filled with water. They rupture eventually. The
child usually has mild fever. The kid is treated by taking rest and giving some
medications for fever. Wait and watch stays the mainstay of treatment. An idea
called * chicken pox play groups* has turned out to be quite effective too.
-
Diarrhoea – one of the commonest disease , especially in the
paedriatic age group, this disease is generally because of infection of the
gut, which itself can be a consequence of consumption of unhygienic food, which
is quite a trend in India.
-
Cough – dry cough too,
is an invariable condition seen
in the paedriatic age group. It usually presents as severe painful coughing
with major discomfort. It cannot be left untreated and common cough medicines which help in clearing
the excess cough, with ease, are
prescribed.
-
Mumps- Another common viral infection seen in children, is a
serious condition with high grade fever contributing to a debilitating
condition. Prevention is the only treatment and thus immunisation with a
vaccine known as MMR ( a trivalent vaccine which secures protection against
measles, mumps, rubella ) is mandatory. For this reason itself, has MMR been
included in the Universal Immunisation Programme today.
These
are the most commonly encountered childhood diseases . There’s a need today to
work against their progression and educating more and more parents about the
same. With that intent in mind, the united nations have pt forth the idea of
mass education of common childhood diseases on the Universal Children’s Day on
the 20 November . With broad communication and social encouragement, can this
goal be achieved.