How do we protect children from summer germs?

Arab weather - germs spread in the summer because of the incubator environment for multiple types of microbes, especially in children.

Prevention, knowledge of the correct methods of treatment, and consulting doctors as soon as they feel a change in children, are essential to identifying the type of injury, methods of treatment, and preventing others from infection. In some cases, isolation is a necessity, but according to principles so that it does not affect the patient.

What diseases are more prevalent in children, specifically in the summer? What are the risk factors for infection? What are the best prevention methods to avoid infection of our children with these diseases?

In the summer, children become vulnerable to various diseases due to high temperatures, and because they eat some contaminated foods, even if they are washed by normal methods, as they need special washing methods.

Also, children accept ready-made foods and meals from restaurants, whose safety and cleanliness is difficult to control, and in this period children frequently use swimming pools, which leads to the spread of certain types of summer viruses.”

Among the most famous of these diseases are:

Skin rash : It results from children’s exposure to intense sunlight, especially in the afternoon from eleven to four in the afternoon in the summer, and high humidity in the air, which leads to the lack of sweating, which results in various types of rashes.

Some diseases related to the digestive system are increasing, such as diarrhea and intestinal infection in its viral and bacterial forms, and other diseases, but these two diseases are the most prevalent among children due to the special summer season in terms of the quality of food eaten, poor food storage, lack of attention to personal hygiene in particular, and the spread of many diseases. microbes.

Dr. Salah considers that summer diarrhea, dysentery and typhoid fever are among the most harmful diseases, especially when children contract them during the first year of life.

It is reported from medical statistics that acute gastroenteritis causes at least 50% of deaths in children during the first year of life, as general and specialized hospitals and pediatric clinics receive dozens of cases daily of injuries, as children range in age from months to thirteen years.

fast spreading diseases

Summer diseases are rapid and spread among children in the summer, especially respiratory diseases such as colds, bronchitis and bronchial diseases. The percentage of pollen that irritates allergic rhinitis and an increase in asthma cases also increases.

Hot weather provides a good environment for bacteria that cause respiratory diseases, gastroenteritis and food poisoning, but prevention in not being in contact during illness and washing hands are important and easy things to prevent disease.

Diseases and the danger of gatherings and closed centers

High summer temperatures and increased humidity lead to the spread of microbes and facilitate their transmission between people, especially in gathering places in closed centers.

He explained that the most important of these microbes are ( fungi, bacteria, viruses ), some of which are transmitted through touch and others through breathing.

He pointed out that the most important viral diseases that affect children in the summer are chicken pox, fungal diseases, tinea of the head and body, and impetigo, a bacterial disease.

Impetigo caused by streptococcus bacteria

This disease usually appears around the mouth, nose and various places of the face, causing itching and local pain with the formation of a honey-colored crust that distinguishes infection. He explained that this disease is contagious by touch, and it can be treated by antiseptic compresses, antibiotic ointments, and antihistamine drugs, and on the affected child. Avoid touching the affected areas and not touching other children

Prevention methods and the necessity of vaccination

1. Avoid exposing children to sunlight during the summer as much as possible; To prevent diseases related to the sun and heat, in addition to good food storage, and not to eat food or drink that is not stored in a healthy way that may be spoiled by high temperatures.
2. To prevent eye diseases and possible infections in the summer, it is advised not to rub the eyes with contaminated hands, to swim in unhealthy pools, not to be exposed to the hot sun, and to use sunglasses if possible to protect the eyes from spring conjunctivitis.
3. The necessity and speed of going to the pediatrician in case of acute gastroenteritis, because delaying treatment may endanger the life of the sick child.
4. Children are not at risk of overcrowding; To reduce the transmission of diseases in the summer and accustom the child to washing hands and face several times a day, especially after returning from playing outside the house and before eating any foods, and focusing on bathing the child at least once a day, and foods must be preserved well.
5. Seasonal influenza vaccination after the age of six months is very necessary for children, especially children with asthma, heart diseases and immune deficiency, and stresses the need to ensure the health and validity of food, not to leave food in hot weather, good cooking of food, and keeping food and milk in the refrigerator.
6. The necessity of not rubbing the eyes with contaminated hands in order to avoid the spread of viral eye infections, which also spread through the spread of flies in the summer and their transmission of germs.
7. The necessity of periodic vaccinations for children from birth to school age, as they play an important role in preventing diseases.
8. As for the use of the antibiotic, it should be taken only after consulting a doctor. In the case of bronchitis and gastroenteritis, antibiotics are used only in certain cases determined by the attending physician by clinical examination and laboratory examination.
9. Children are more susceptible to infection with many microbes, and therefore they must be immunized against infection with these microbes by taking vaccinations against these diseases while strengthening their immunity by making sure to eat healthy food, and a lot of eating natural honey, nigella, and foods rich in vitamins and proteins such as fruits and vegetables and meat, and any infected child must be treated immediately and not left in contact with other children.

Chickenpox:

Symptoms and prevention

Chickenpox is a disease caused by a virus related to the virus that causes the Ring of Fire disease. It usually affects children from one to seven years of age, and rarely affects adults. It is characterized by severe infection among children, and a person with the disease generates permanent immunity that prevents infection from it again, and the incubation period for the disease is about two weeks.

Symptoms of the disease

The child develops malaise accompanied by a high temperature with a feeling of fatigue, and the rash appears in the form of watery or purulent blisters and bubbles may appear, and the disease may leave behind fishy surface scales.

The infection of chickenpox begins at the trunk area and then gradually extends to the extremities and face, and we usually see more than one type of skin grain from the rash on the body of the injured, and often those blisters disappear after about ten days, and the treatment of the infection must be started quickly in order to avoid any complications Such as secondary infections and respiratory infections. During the infection, the child must be isolated for about ten days at home to avoid spreading the infection among his colleagues.

The treatment plan of the disease:

1. Topical changes to pimples and antibiotic creams.
2. Antihistamine syrup when feeling itchy skin.
3. Oral antibiotics to prevent local infections.
4. Antiviral syrup, especially in severe cases.
5. head fungus

This infectious disease usually affects children from the age of two to twelve years, and does not affect adults because of the fatty acids that cover the surface of the scalp.

The infection usually occurs among school students and in crowded places such as summer camps as a result of direct infection. It has been noted that the infection is more in males than in females because males have shorter hair, and thus it is easier for fungi to reach the scalp and cause infection under certain conditions.

As for the sources of infection and the ways of transmission of the disease, they are many, the most important of which are:

Uncontaminated tools: hairbrush, comb, hat, etc.

Direct infection : It occurs especially among school students, and it should be noted here that students should be alerted to get rid of some habits such as bringing the head close to the head of a colleague and rubbing it, especially when speaking in a low voice during the lesson or playing.

Pets: such as cats and dogs, as some of them are infected with fungi as they transmit them to children, especially when pampering these animals or playing with them.

squash disease

As a result of the invasion of fungi to the keratinized substance of the hair and the skin together, this leads to the fragmentation of these substances, and thus to hair loss in the affected area, and this appears in the form of a circular spot devoid of long hair, as the hair appears as if it is cut on the surface of the scalp, and this is what differentiates the disease from the disease Alopecia, where the areas of alopecia are smooth and devoid of hair.

The area of the squash is infected with scales, which is an important source of infection, and the fungi may invade certain areas of the scalp and settle there, or it may migrate to another area forming other circular-shaped habitats. If it is exhausted, it moves to the extremities away from the site of injury

Squash disease is usually diagnosed easily by a specialist, but sometimes a laboratory analysis of the scales and hair may be required to determine the type of fungus.

The severity of the disease varies according to the type of fungus causing the infection. Some of them lead to the emergence of one or more spots, others affect most of the scalp area and lead to hair loss from most parts of the scalp, and a third type leads to the appearance of boils and severe infections, especially those fungi transmitted through animals. The fungi cause permanent baldness in the affected areas as a result of damaging the hair follicles. The fungal disease may also affect other areas away from the scalp, especially between the thighs, armpits, chest and extremities, and lead to the appearance of circular-shaped spots, as well as affecting the nails and between the fingers, and leads to a change in the color of the nails and their fragmentation.

disease prevention

• The taqiyya or the shemagh should be boiled to prevent self-infection or the disease spreading to another person.
• The doctor’s instructions must be strictly followed and the treatment should be used for the period he specifies, as failure to complete the treatment may lead to the fungus resuming its activity again, and some of them may acquire immunity from antifungals, and treatment becomes difficult after that.
• It is preferable that the person with measles disease does not go to school until he is cured of the disease, after the doctor’s approval, and if there is a necessity, the patient must go to school as is the case during the examination period, he prefers to sit away from his colleagues. The treatment of measles takes about two weeks, and the duration may be long or short, depending on the conditions of the disease and the patient together, as well as according to the type of mushroom causing it.
• Accustom children to the obligation to use only their own tools and not to use the tools of others, especially with regard to hairbrushes, combs and caps.
• Accustom children to hygiene from a young age, especially taking care of scalp hygiene at least twice a week, using appropriate shampoo and the necessity of rinsing the head well with water to remove the remaining harmful deposits.
• Avoid contact with the injured.
• Shaving places must be supervised, continuous health monitoring, and the necessity of educating the owners of this profession, and they must clean tools well using the necessary disinfectants, and not shave for those suspected of having measles disease or infections of the scalp.
• Get rid of pets such as cats and dogs if they are infected

medical