Recently, my three children were all infected with chickenpox. In fact, my eldest son and youngest daughter are still recovering from the illness. As you see from my daughter’s picture below, her face is covered with red, blister-like spots. The spots cover her entire body from the scalp down to the soles of her feet and including the palms of both hands.

What is chickenpox?
Chickenpox is caused by a virus called varicella-zoster (VZV) and it is a common illness that affects children especially below the age of 12.

What are the symptoms?
The normal symptoms are red, itchy spots, fever, sore throat, abdominal pain or headache. The rash or spots are filled with fluid, which eventually breaks open and later dries up to form brown scabs.

Chickenpox is very contagious. The infected child should stay home until the symptoms disappear. My two school-going sons did not seem to mind getting chickenpox though as they get to stay home for a week.

What is the treatment?
My kids were given medicine for the fever and for the unbearable itching. They were also given calamine lotion to soothe the itchy spots. An antibiotic medicine was added, as the sores are highly likely to become infected by bacteria due to the unavoidable scratching.

What is the prevention?
There is a chickenpox vaccine normally recommended for children when they are 12 to 15 months old. However, it is still possible for some children to get chickenpox even after getting vaccinated. The symptoms will be milder though compared to those who did not get the vaccine.

Children who have had chickenpox already do not need to get the vaccine as they normally develop immunity against the illness. If a person has had chickenpox or the vaccine when young carries the risk of getting shingles later in life. This is due to the varicella-zoster virus, which remains in the body (in nerve cells near the spinal cord) and may later cause shingles.

What is your experience with chickenpox? Did it leave any scars after healing?

photo credit: Spigoo

I wrote about this topic earlier. In Part II, I will delve deeper into the subject to give parents more helpful information.

What causes diarrhea?

It is due to gastrointestinal (GI) infection caused by bacteria, viruses or parasites. Diarrhea can spread through various ways such as taking contaminated food or water, eating with dirty hands, through house pets and also through contact with fecal matter. Children are easily susceptible as they are always touching, holding or handling things and surfaces and like to put their fingers into their mouths later.

Viral gastroenteritis or commonly known as stomach flu is a highly infectious type of diarrhea. The normal symptoms are nausea and vomiting with fever. One type of viral gastroenteritis in children is the rotavirus and is a common cause of diarrhea outbreaks in child-care centers.

Some of the regularly heard types of bacteria or parasites that cause GI and diarrhea are:
• Salmonella enteritidis bacteria: This is normally found in undercooked chicken and eggs.
• E. coli bacteria: This is normally spread through contaminated food or water. Undercooked food or unwashed fruits or vegetables that came into contact with animal manure or even swimming in contaminated water are some of the sources.
• Giardia parasite: Giardiasis is spread through contaminated water (e.g. pools or streams) and is easily spread through child care settings.
• Campylobacter bacteria: This is normally found in raw and undercooked chicken.

Typical symptoms

• Fever
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Loss of appetite
• Dehydration
• Weight loss

Prevention steps

It is hard for parents to prevent their children from getting sick with diarrhea. Below are some steps parents can take to reduce the chances or likelihood of an infection:

• Wash dirty hands. Ensure that your children wash their hands often especially before eating and after using the toilet.
• Properly wash fruits and vegetables before consumption.
• Properly cook meat before eating and refrigerate freshly bought meat or leftovers as soon as possible.
• Wash or clean utensils that have been in contact with raw meat or poultry.
• Avoid drinking from streams or ponds.
• Clean bathroom surfaces to prevent the spreading of germs.

Get medical attention

Parents should bring their child to see the doctor if the child exhibits extreme discomfort or condition. For example:

• High fever (102 o F or higher)
• Acute abdominal pain
• Diarrhea that contains blood
• Frequent vomiting
• Shows dehydration (e.g. lack of urine, dry mouth, few tears when crying, lethargy, dizziness)

The doctor may or may not prescribe antibiotics or antiviral medications depending on the condition. Sometimes the sick child recovers on his own. A stool test may be done to identify the actual cause of the diarrhea but oftentimes it is unnecessary.

The doctor’s main concern is usually in making sure to replace the fluid loss from your child’s body through diarrhea or vomiting. An oral rehydration solution (ORS) may be recommended to your child to replace the loss fluid and electrolytes (salts and minerals). Other drinks like fruit juice, tea, plain water, ginger ale, sports drinks are typically not recommended and sometimes can make the diarrhea worsen.

For extremely severe cases of dehydration, your child may be admitted to the hospital to receive IV fluids to overcome the condition.

Useful websites

Below, I have listed several useful websites for parents to get more information or to get more answers on the subject matter.

http://www.kidshealth.org/

http://www.healthline.com/