Most children and young people will experience some illness in their life. Common illnesses like coughs and cold are not usually serious.
However, illnesses like meningitis are more serious and the child will need specialist medical care. Illnesses like chicken pox are infectious to others and illnesses like asthma are not infectious at all.
The main signs that a child is ill are:
Poor appetite.
No energy.
Change in behaviour (unusually quiet, not sleeping well, crying more than usual).
Vomiting.
Skin rash.
Raised body temperature.
A cough, headache, stomach ache, earache or runny nose.
Looks pale.
Is irritable.
The most common childhood illnesses are:
Flu.
Tonsillitis.
Diarrhoea.
Chicken pox.
Rubella (German measles).
Measles.
Impetigo.
Ringworm.
Im going to look at a few childhood illnesses in more detail, explaining what they are?, the incubation period and is there immunisation for these illnesses.
Chicken Pox
Chickenpox is an infection caused by varicella-zoster virus. Signs and symptoms of chickenpox may include:
Slight fever may be present before a rash develops. Rash usually first appears on body, face, and scalp. It then spreads to limbs. Rash begins as small, red, flat spots that develop into itchy fluid-filled blisters. Blisters are usually less than 1⁄4” wide and have a red base.
After the blister breaks, open sores will crust over to form dry, brown scabs and this usually lasts for about 10 days.
Child is most infectious 12 - 24 hours before the rash appears. A child should be incubated for at least 8 - 21 days.
The Chickenpox vaccine is free and is available for all who are over one year of age and are susceptible to chickenpox. Chickenpox vaccine given within 5 days of exposure to chickenpox disease is effective in preventing or reducing the severity of chickenpox.
Measles
Measles is one of the most contagious communicable diseases. It is caused by the measles virus and is a leading cause of vaccine- preventable deaths in children worldwide.
Signs and symptoms of measles may include: Fever, cough, runny nose, and watery inflamed eyes Small red spots with white or bluish white centres in the mouth Dusky red, blotchy rash that begins on the face and spreads all over the body Rash begins on 3rd to 7th day of illness and lasts 4 to 7 days
A doctor may be able to diagnose measles based on a child’s symptoms but a blood test is recommended to confirm the diagnosis. The incubation period for a child with measles is 10 days. A Measles vaccine is part of the routine childhood immunisation schedule starting at 12 months of age. The vaccine, MMR, also provides protection against mumps and rubella.
