Respond to childhood illness

Ear infection (middle or inner ear infection)

Mode of transmission:

• Direct contact with respiratory secretions or droplets from an infected person.
• Indirectly from articles contaminated with respiratory secretions from an infected person.

Signs and symptoms:

• May be accompanied by fever, pain, impaired hearing, diarrhoea, nausea, and vomiting, or irritability.
• Generally accompanies or comes after an upper respiratory infection.

Prevention:

• Teaching children or their attendants to cover their mouths with a tissue during coughing.
• Using disposable tissues (paper handkerchief).
• Discouraging mouthing behaviours
• Proper ventilation.
• Proper hand washing
• Vaccinates unexposed children

Hepatitis

Mode of transmission:

• Through fecal-oral (hepatitis A and E)
• Through blood and blood products(hepatitis B,C & D)
• Through body fluids (hepatitis B,C & D)
• Through sexual intercourse (hepatitis B,C & D)
• Direct contact with infected blood and body fluids (hepatitis B,C & D)
• Sharp contaminated material like needle (hepatitis B,C & D)

Signs and symptoms:

The commonest symptoms of hepatitis include fever, malaise (aches), lack of appetite, abdominal discomfort, nausea and vomiting, fatigue, tea coloured urine, and the onset of jaundice (yellow discoloration of the sclera of the eye or mucous membrane) enlargement of the spleen, enlargement of the liver.

Prevention:

• Proper hand washing
• Don glove before contact with faeces and blood or body fluids.
• Properly dispose of contaminated materials with blood and body fluids.
• Properly disposal of sharp materials
• Protected sexual intercourse

Measles

Mode of transmission:

• Direct contact with secretions of nose and throat from an infected person.
• Can be spread by airborne droplet or by articles freshly soiled with respiratory secretions from an infected person

Signs and symptoms:

The symptoms of measle are fever, runny nose, red and watery eyes, red coloured rash over the face, trunk and arms. The fever usually disappears 1or 2 days after the rash.

Prevention:

• Avoid direct or indirect contact with respiratory discharge.
• Isolate an infected child with non-infected children.
• Immunization

Meningitis

Meningitis is the infection of the meninges.

Mode of transmission:

• Direct contact with droplets secreted from the nose and throat of an infected person.
  

Signs and symptoms:

• The symptoms appear suddenly with the onset of fever, chills, intense headache, nausea, vomiting, stiff neck, and sometimes rash.
  
• The disease may progress to seizures and coma.
  

Prevention:

• Avoid direct contact with respiratory discharge.
• Immunise uninfected children

Mumps

The mumps virus causes an acute, self-limited, viral syndrome.

Mode of transmission:

• By droplet or direct contact with saliva from an infected person
  

Signs and symptoms:

• Usually fever, often with a headache, chills, and discomfort, followed by painful swelling or tenderness under the jaw or in front of the ear.
  

Prevention:

• Avoid direct contact with personal oral discharge.
• Immunisation of uninfected child
• Isolation of infected child from healthy child until the child is recover from their illness

Scabies

Mode of transmission:

• Direct skin-to-skin contact or indirectly from contaminated materials like cloth
• In young adults, the mode of transmission is usually sexual contact

Signs and symptoms:

• Rash and intensive itching
  

Prevention:

• Because scabies is transmitted by close or skin-to-skin contact, usual recommendations are that all members of the family and close contacts be treated at the same time to avoid an endless chain of cross-contamination and reinfestation.
  
• Avoid skin to skin contact and disinfect contaminated bedding and clothing with disinfectant.