Diseases in Children

Diseases in Children

These refer to diseases commonly found in infants and young children. Common symptoms of childhood diseases include fever, which occurs when a child's body temperature rises above normal. You can tell if a child has a fever by touching their forehead with the back of your hand. If you want to be certain, you should measure their temperature with a thermometer, which can be done orally or rectally.

Major causes of fever in children

• Infections, such as the common cold, tonsillitis, middle ear infection, pneumonia, and tuberculosis.
• Dehydration due to inadequate fluid intake or excessive fluid loss from the body, such as diarrhea.
• Poor body heat regulation, such as wearing thick clothes or being wrapped in heavy blankets, which restrict air circulation.
• Brain-related diseases, such as brain malformation, cerebral hemorrhage, drug allergies, chemical poisoning, and seizures. In seizures, children may experience mild or intense muscle contractions, fixed and dilated pupils, biting their teeth or tongue. The causes of seizures may include birth injuries, congenital abnormalities, nervous system infections, certain medications, or maternal drug abuse. Febrile seizures are common in young children with high fever.
• Epilepsy, resulting from abnormal brain cell function, may manifest as whole-body convulsions, partial convulsions, or twitching. Important infectious brain diseases include meningitis.
• Coughing is a common symptom in both children and adults. In children, coughing is often caused by respiratory infections, such as the flu, laryngitis, bronchitis, and pneumonia.
• Whooping cough is a severe coughing disease that can affect children as young as 1 month old. This disease can be prevented by vaccination.
• Asthma can occur in children younger than 1 year and causes chronic coughing, often accompanied by mucus, especially at night, in cold weather, or during weather changes.
• Shortness of breath is characterized by difficulty breathing and wheezing, resulting from respiratory system diseases or infections, or inflammation of the throat.
• Jaundice, or neonatal hyperbilirubinemia, results from diseases or abnormalities involving bilirubin, difficult childbirth, certain hereditary red blood cell disorders, or certain medications, such as steroids. Infections from the mother's womb can also cause jaundice.

Common Infectious Diseases in Children

• Diphtheria is characterized by fever, sore throat, and difficulty breathing, which can be life-threatening. It can also endanger heart muscles, causing abnormal heartbeats and affecting nerves. Diphtheria can be prevented by vaccination starting at the age of 2-3 months.

• Whooping cough, a contagious respiratory disease, causes a runny nose and excessive coughing. Complications of whooping cough include pneumonia and ear infections. Vaccination can prevent whooping cough and should be administered starting at the age of 2-3 months.

• Tetanus results from a wound infection that releases toxins, causing muscle stiffness, difficulty opening the mouth, facial muscle spasms, and seizures due to prolonged muscle contractions that can lead to respiratory failure and death. Tetanus can be prevented by vaccination, often administered in conjunction with diphtheria and whooping cough vaccines, starting in infancy. Neonatal tetanus usually occurs from cutting the umbilical cord with unsterilized instruments.

• Poliomyelitis (polio) presents symptoms such as fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, body aches, and dry throat, eventually leading to paralysis. The virus enters the body through the mouth and can be found in contaminated food or water. The best prevention for polio is the polio vaccine.

• Measles, a contagious disease caused by a virus, spreads through respiratory transmission and causes fever, runny nose, cough, and red throat. German measles can affect both children and adults, with symptoms including a rash on the body, neck, arms, and legs, low fever, and slow growth in young children. In newborns infected with German measles in utero, potential outcomes include low birth weight, congenital heart defects, deafness, and other abnormalities.

• Chickenpox is caused by a virus, leading to the appearance of a rash and clear blisters on the skin, accompanied by coughing or sneezing.

• Tuberculosis affects the lungs, lymph nodes, meninges, intestines, bones, joints, liver, kidneys, skin, and heart lining. Prevention includes the BCG vaccine and avoiding exposure to the bacteria.

• Dengue fever is transmitted through the bite of the Aedes mosquito during the daytime. Symptoms include high fever, loss of appetite, nausea, and vomiting. If not treated properly, the disease can be fatal. Prevention involves avoiding mosquito bites, eliminating breeding grounds, and covering water containers.

These childhood diseases can be prevented through vaccinations and by closely monitoring children's symptoms and seeking medical attention when necessary.

With best wishes from the Department of Pediatrics, Viphavadi Hospital.