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Many childhood diseases are preventable. This will not only protect the child from unnecessary pain, but also protects against serious complications of these diseases.
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The chickenpox virus is extremely contagious. The most common source of infection is the droplet route, direct contact with a sick person or with objects contaminated with secretions from the respiratory tract of the infected person. The disease manifests itself as headache, muscle pain, joint pain and throat pain, diarrhea and a mild fever. After the onset of general symptoms, an itchy blistering rash appears all over the body. In Poland, about 1 children a year are hospitalized with severe or complications of chickenpox. The most common are bacterial superinfections, rashes that can leave unsightly scars. The most dangerous is meningitis, brain inflammation, heart muscle inflammation, as well as complications related to the respiratory system – pneumonia. The pox virus paves the way for bacterial infections – most often pneumococci. The vaccine protects against the disease. Its effectiveness is very high, and a child can be vaccinated after nine months of age. It is worth knowing that vaccination is obligatory, among others, for children attending nurseries. According to the National Institute of Public Health, the National Institute of Hygiene, each year over 60 people suffering from chickenpox are hospitalized. Death occurs once in 30 thousand. illnesses. The disease is most dangerous for adults in the 49–1 age group. Complications of chickenpox are fatal on average in 4 in XNUMX thousand. sick.
Pneumococcal infections
Pneumococcal infection occurs through droplets through contact with respiratory secretions. These bacteria cause inflammation of the middle ear, sinuses and lungs. They can also cause inflammation of the peritoneum and joints. The most severe form of infection is the so-called invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in which meningitis, sepsis, and pneumonia with bacteraemia can occur. Having a child with pneumococcal meningitis may have permanent consequences, the most common of which are deafness, hydrocephalus and epilepsy, as well as brain abscesses, paresis or paralysis of the limbs, speech and personality disorders. It is estimated that each year in the world over 10 million children under the age of five develop pneumococcal disease and, unfortunately, one million of them die. Vaccinations can protect against infection with the most common pneumococcal strains. Children under two years of age are most vulnerable to pneumococcal disease, because their immune system is not fully developed and cannot defend itself against these bacteria. That is why it is so important to start vaccinations as early as possible from the second month of life of the child. According to the information of the National Institute of Public Health of the National Institute of Hygiene, pneumococcal infections are the most common out-of-hospital bacterial infections. In Poland, their number is not precisely estimated. However, taking into account invasive infections, the number of which exceeds 400 annually, it can be assumed that at least several thousand people suffer from pneumococcal pneumonia, and tens of thousands of people with otitis. In the US, there were 17 reported cases before the conjugate vaccine was introduced. cases of invasive pneumococcal disease, and in total about 40 died due to pneumococcal infections annually. people.
Salmonellosis
The greatest number of cases of infection with the salmonella bacterium occurs through the consumption of poultry meat, eggs, especially raw, unpasteurized milk and its products. Contact with animals or a sick person is less common. The disease causes diarrhea and vomiting, which puts you at risk of dehydration, which is very dangerous especially in children and may require treatment in a hospital. You can protect yourself against infection with this bacterium by cooking, frying or baking meat, because exposing food to high temperature is the easiest way to destroy this pathogen. Remember to scald raw eggs with boiling water before using them to make dishes or desserts. Salmonella bacteria can survive in cold weather. Therefore, storing contaminated food in a refrigerator or freezer will not prevent infection with this disease. So you should not eat ice cream and cakes with cream of unknown origin.
Rubella
Rubella is a highly contagious viral disease. The source of infection is only a sick person. A characteristic symptom is a pink maculopapular rash, appearing first around the face and neck, then all over the body. There may also be an enlargement of the lymph nodes in the subcopic region and behind the ears. In children, the disease is usually mild. However, in pregnant women who are not immune to the rubella virus, they may infect the fetus, leading to its death or numerous malformations. Therefore, rubella vaccination is especially important for girls. In Poland, the obligatory combined vaccine (MMR) protecting against measles, mumps and rubella was introduced into the vaccination calendar. According to the data of the National Institute of Public Health of the National Institute of Hygiene, before the introduction of vaccinations, rubella appeared in Poland as an epidemic every 4-6 years, most often among children and adolescents aged 5-15 years. With the introduction of vaccinations – for girls in 1989 and for both sexes in 2004, a decrease in the number of cases was observed. In 2014 and 2015, there were 5891 and 2026 cases of rubella, respectively. There have been no cases of congenital rubella.
Rotavirus infection
Rotaviruses are extremely infectious and constitute the most common etiological agent of acute diarrhea. If one child in a kindergarten or nursery falls ill, the others will most likely also become infected. The disease begins with a low fever, then vomiting appears, sometimes very intense – even several to several dozen times a day, and then diarrhea, usually watery and persistent. If the disease affects a newborn or infant, it is best to seek the help of a doctor immediately, who will decide whether they need to be hospitalized and given intravenous fluids. Rotavirus infection is a serious risk factor for dehydration, which can be fatal, so when it affects young children, often treatment must take place in a hospital setting. The vaccine protects against infection. It can be given to a child from 6 weeks of age, but not later than after 24 weeks of age. According to the information of the National Institute of Public Health of the National Institute of Hygiene, the frequency of rotavirus infections is about 200. illnesses annually. As a result, it reaches 52 thousand. outpatient consultations and 6,5 thousand. hospitalization, mainly of infants and young children. According to estimates, several dozen children die each year as a result of rotavirus infections.
Meningococcal infections
Meningococcal infections occur when a susceptible person comes into contact with an asymptomatic carrier or a sick person. Children up to the age of one are most often affected. Many cases of the disease also occur in children up to 5 years of age, and adolescents and young adults aged 16-21. Meningococci cause meningitis or sepsis known as invasive meningococcal disease. They can also cause arthritis, pneumonia, pericarditis and endocarditis, bone marrow inflammation and inflammation of the conjunctiva, middle ear, throat, and urogenital infections. Invasive meningococcal disease poses a direct threat to health and life. Therefore, a person suspected of such an infection should be hospitalized immediately. You can protect yourself from getting sick through vaccinations, which can be started after the second month of a child’s life. According to information from the National Institute of Public Health of the National Institute of Hygiene, infections in Poland are caused by meningococcal serogroups B, C, W-135 and Y. Invasive meningococcal disease is caused by meningococcal serogroup B (70%) and serogroup C (nearly 30%). Infections caused by meningococcal serogroups Y and W-135 are very rare. Meningococci are found in about 10-25 percent. healthy people (carriers). Annually, there are 200-400 cases of invasive meningococcal disease in Poland. Mortality associated with meningococcal infections is about 10%, but in sepsis cases it is high and can range from 20 to even 70%. In addition, in meningococcal sepsis, as much as 50 percent. deaths occur within the first XNUMX hours from the onset of disease symptoms.
Flu
It is an acute contagious disease. Influenza infection occurs through droplets and sometimes also through contact with a contaminated surface. Symptoms of the disease appear suddenly. The most common of them are severe weakness, headache, cough, runny nose, high fever above 38 degrees C, chills, muscle pain and stiffness, nausea, vomiting. Influenza can be severe and can cause serious complications, especially in young children. The most common are pneumonia and bronchitis, transverse myelitis, encephalitis, meningitis, myocarditis and pericarditis. They can lead to irreversible disability and even death. Vaccinations, which greatly reduce the risk of infection with the influenza virus, can be given to children as early as 6 months of age. It should be remembered that vaccination is valid for 1 year, because their composition is adjusted annually by WHO to the current epidemiological situation. The National Institute of Public Health of the National Institute of Hygiene informs that from several hundred thousand to several million cases of influenza are registered in Poland, depending on the epidemic season. The peak usually takes place between January and March. Data on the number of flu cases may be understated due to the imperfections of the infectious disease registration system and the fact that not every patient visits a doctor.
The number of deaths in our country is difficult to estimate. Infection with influenza virus is not confirmed by virological tests in most cases. Flu is also not placed on the death certificate as a cause of death, if only because many deaths actually associated with influenza virus infection occur as a result of complications when the virus is no longer detected. In the 2013/14 epidemic season, there were 2,7 million cases of influenza and suspected cases of influenza, over 9 hospitalization and 15 deaths.