The childhood illnessesin most cases, are caused by infectious agents against which children have not yet developed immunity. However, there are some that are NOT so serious that they are very common in Mexican children.
Chart of the Day: Most Common Health Illnesses in Mexican Children
A survey conducted among mothers, fathers and caregivers of children under 12 years of age in Mexico revealed the most frequent illnesses among children.
The flu was the disease most mentioned by the respondents, especially among parents of children between 6 and 23 months of age. Also, another of theDiseases most mentioned by the participants was diarrhea and intestinal problems, being once again the group of infants between 6 and 23 months the most affected.
What other pediatric diseases are common?
Infectious diseases
They affect both the digestive and respiratory mucosa and most of them are called with the name affected organ followed by the suffix “itis”, since they also cause inflammation.
For example, among others, rhinitis, otitis or gastroenteritis are included in this category.
The general characteristic symptoms of these diseases are, among others:
- Pain
- redness
- Irritation
- Enlargement of local defensive ganglia
Also, each pathology has distinctive symptoms that aid diagnosis.
Treatment, which is usually rapid, consists of fight the foreign agent that caused the inflammation. For example, if it is bacteria, antibiotics will be used.
Some of these diseases and their symptoms are:
- Acute tonsillitis: its origin is usually bacterial and, in addition to the redness of the throat, high fever, cough and runny nose are the most common symptoms in children.
- Acute otitis media: This infection is very common in children under 3 years of age. It is almost always caused by a bacterium, although sometimes it can also be caused by a virus. It causes pain in the affected ear and can cause diarrhea and fever.
- Cystitis: it is a urinary infection suffered by approximately 3% of girls and 1% of boys. The cause is a bacterial infection and its characteristic symptoms are the continuous urge to urinate and itching when doing so.
The childhood illnesses originated by external agents are numerous, but one of the most common, as we already mentioned in the graph, is the coldwith which almost everyone is familiar.
How are childhood infectious diseases spread?
The contagion of infectious diseases it is very simple, and it can occur during the incubation period, that is, before the symptoms appear. As we have explained before, one of the reasons why these diseases are very common in children is the weak immune system against these infectious agents. Another reason is that children share toys and spend a lot of time with other children, who can cough without covering their mouths.
The main routes of infection are:
- Respiratory: contagion occurs through the micro droplets with infectious particles that we expel when we cough, sneeze or even speak.
- Fecal-oral: transmission through bacteria or virus eliminated in the feces. The contagion occurs by ingesting them, for example, through contaminated water or food.
- Direct contact: through shared objects.
- Contact through organic liquids such as saliva or blood.
For example, in hand-foot-and-mouth disease, caused by a virus and that causes blisters on the palms of the hand, the soles of the feet or the inside of the mouth, Transmission is through the respiratory or fecal-oral route. and its incubation period lasts between 3 and 6 days.
For its part, conjunctivitis, a disease that consists of inflammation of the conjunctiva which is the white area of the eye can be caused by a virus and its minimum period of contagion is 9 days, since the virus particles can remain in fabrics, pillows, towels, etc.
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