Children’s Health – Chickenpox

When speaking about chickenpox, the first thing that comes to mind is those itchy rashes on the body. But what really is chickenpox? Chickenpox is an infectious illness which is caused by a kind of virus called varicella zoster. Although the virus can be caught by a grown up, children are usually the ones who are infected by such illness.

How do you know if your child has been infested by chickenpox?

Slight fever and itchy rash are two common symptoms of chickenpox. At the initial stage, smooth and red spots can be easily seen on the body and...

face and by the third day, these red spots will become blisters which can be extremely itchy.

How is the virus spread?

Chicken pox can spread through the air via sneezing or coughing from an infected person. A person can also catch the virus if he or she accidentally comes into contact with the liquid coming from a broken blister of an infected person.

Since chickenpox is highly contagious, you have to keep your child away from an infected person to minimize the risk of being infected. A person who has caught the virus is very contagious for the first two days. He or she can also spread the virus for the last 5 days or so before the rash starts to heal and become crusted.

Can your child be prevented from catching the virus?

Fortunately you can get your child vaccinated against catching chickenpox. If your child is between 1 to 12 years old, he or she may only need one shot while a person who is 13 years old and above may have to get two doses.

When a healthy child is injected with the chickenpox vaccine, his or her body will began to build resistance against the virus which causes chickenpox. But being vaccinated doesn’t mean 100 percent immune from catching the virus. In fact, there are still less than 15% of those who have been vaccinated catching the illness when directly contacted the virus. However, the good news is that when a vaccinated person is catch chickenpox, the illness is usually very mild.

Consult your family doctor to find out more information about chickenpox vaccination. It is best advice to get your children vaccinated as chickenpox can be serious when certain complications arise. Bacterial skin infection, encephalitis and pneumonia are just some of the serious complications. So prevention is always better than cure.
by: Stella Mak

Leptospirosis

Leptospirosis is an infection in rodents and other wild and domesticated species. Rodents are implicated most often in human cases. The infection in man is contracted through skin abrasions and...

the mucosa of the nose, mouth and eyes. Exposure through water contaminated by urine from infected animals is the most common route of infection. Human-to-human transmission is rare.

Outdoor and agricultural workers (rice-paddy and sugarcane workers for example) are particularly at risk but it is also a recreational hazard to those who swim or wade in contaminated waters. In endemic areas the number of leptospirosis cases may peak during the rainy season and even may reach epidemic proportions in case of flooding because the floods cause rodents to move into the city.

Prevention strategies of human leptospirosis include wearing protective clothing for people at occupational risk and avoidance of swimming in water that may be contaminated. Leptospirosis control in animals is dependent on the serovar and animal species but may be either vaccination, a testing a culling programme, rodent control or a combination of these strategies.

Surveillance

The attached excerpt provides WHO recommended standards and strategies for the surveillance, prevention and control of Leptospirosis. This section is part of a larger document entitled "WHO recommended standards and strategies for surveillance, prevention and control of communicable diseases " developed by the WHO Emerging Diseases and Pandemic Response Department (EPR), in collaboration with the Department Food Safety, Zoonoses and Foodborne Diseases (FOS), for major zoonoses involving livestock. The full document will be available on the WHO website early in 2007. Each section, after giving essential information on the main characteristics of the disease and its causative agent(s) and mode of transmission, provides definitions for possible, probable and definite cases of the disease as well as the rational for surveillance and WHO recommended systems for surveillance. Major control and prevention activities in humans and animal hosts are also described. A list of WHO reference materials is provided at the end.

Neonatal Intensive-Care Unit

A neonatal intensive care unit, usually shortened NICU (sometimes pronounced "Nickyou") and also called a newborn intensive care unit, intensive care nursery (ICN), and special care baby unit (SCBU [pronounced "Skiboo"], especially in Great Britain), is a unit of a hospital specializing in the care of ill or premature newborn infants. The NICU is distinct from the special care nursery (SCN) in providing a high level of intensive care to premature infants while the SCN provides specialized care for infants with less severe medical problems.

NICUs were developed in the 1950s and 1960s by pediatricians to provide better temperature support, isolation from infection risk, specialized feeding, and access to specialized equipment and resources. Infants are cared for in incubators or "open warmers." Some low birth weight infants need respiratory support ranging from extra oxygen (by head hood or nasal cannula) to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) or mechanical ventilation. Public access is limited, and staff and visitors are required to take precautions to reduce transmission of infection. Nearly all children's hospitals have NICUs, but they can be found in large general hospitals as well.

A NICU is typically directed by one or more neonatologists and staffed by nurses, nurse practitioners, Nursery Nurses, physician assistants, resident physicians, and respiratory therapists. Many other ancillary services are necessary for a top-level NICU. Other physicians, especially those with "organ-defined" specialties often assist in the care of these infants.