9 Infectious diseases in children who are susceptible to attack

Various infectious diseases in children

This type of infectious disease can be caused by viruses and bacteria that are around the child. Here are some infectious diseases in children that often attack your little one:

1. Worms

If your child is scratching their bottom a lot, they may have worms.

Children are very susceptible to worms because children play outdoors more often than adults.

Not to mention that children's awareness to maintain cleanliness is still lacking. For example, after playing outside, children immediately hold food and eat without washing their hands first.

This allows worms or worm eggs that are attached to the soil or in water to enter the child's body and then reproduce in the intestine.

To prevent infectious diseases in children, it is recommended that children always wash their hands diligently, especially before eating and after going out of the toilet.

Routinely taking worm medicine every 6 months is also recommended to prevent intestinal worms.

2. RSV

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is an infectious disease of the respiratory tract of children. Infectious diseases in children are usually not serious.

However, if your child is under 2 years of age or has heart or lung disease, or has a weakened immune system, this infection can attack the lungs and cause pneumonia.

If your baby shows symptoms such as runny nose, runny nose, cough, congestion, breathing problems, and easily fussy, be careful that your child may have RSV.

Immediately get these symptoms to the doctor.

3. Chicken pox

Chickenpox is an infectious disease in children caused by a virus. The first symptoms that appear are usually small red spots on the child's body, followed by fever and weakness.

This disease can be transmitted from one child to another, through direct contact with chickenpox spots, sneezing, or coughing.

Therefore, if a child has chickenpox, you should just rest at home so as not to spread it to his friends or to those around him.

The transmission of chickenpox may not be immediately apparent. Usually, chicken pox will be transmitted to children who have never been exposed to this disease.

Symptoms generally appear 10-21 days after exposure or after the child has interacted with other children who have chickenpox.

4. Head lice

Well, in addition to the aforementioned diseases, head lice is also an infectious disease in children that must be watched out for.

Head lice are usually transmitted from other children, can be due to playing together, sleeping together, borrowing headbands or hats, and so on.

Usually a child with head lice will show symptoms such as scratching the head, itchy scalp (worse at night), and a red rash on the head due to frequent scratching.

You can comb the child's hair dry or wet with a lice comb to see if the child has head lice or not.

5. Conjunctivitis

Quoting from Health Direct, conjunctivitis is an inflammatory eye condition that is highly contagious and is often caused by viral, bacterial, and allergic infections.

A sign of allergic conjunctivitis is feeling itchy in the eyes caused by animal hair or dust in the house.

While the trigger for conjunctivitis is due to a viral infection, the eyes will be swollen and dry. This makes the child's tears flow.

Conjunctivitis due to bacterial infection makes the child feel sore, irritated, red eyes, and sore from within. The eyes also secrete a lot of sticky discharge.

Conjunctivitis, an infectious disease in children, is spread through direct contact with fluids that come out of the eyes, nose or throat of an infected person.

Not only that, transmission also occurs due to contact with contaminated fingers or objects.

6. Hepatitis A

Hepatitis A is an infection that can be experienced by children. Hepatitis A is caused by a highly contagious virus that grows in the liver and passes into feces.

This infectious disease in this child is very easily transmitted through food and drink contaminated with the hepatitis A virus, which comes from the patient's feces.

Symptoms of hepatitis A include:

Stomach ache
Loss of appetite
Nausea
Fever
Fatigue
Followed by yellow eyes and skin conditions

The above conditions can last from one week to several months. However, young children may not show any symptoms.

In Indonesia, the number of hepatitis sufferers has continued to increase over the last five years.

The result of the Health Research Data (Riskesdas), the prevalence of hepatitis sufferers based on doctor's diagnosis has doubled, to 0.4 percent from 2013-2018.

7. Impetigo

Quoting from Health, impetigo is a skin infection caused by bacteria and is often experienced by children.

Impetigo is characterized by flat, yellow, crusty, moist patches or blisters on the skin. This condition usually occurs in exposed areas, such as the face, arms, and legs.

The bacteria that cause impetigo can be spread through contact with infected wounds or fluids.

These infected sores are often so itchy that the child scratches them and spreads the infection through their hands and to other parts of the body.

Although very contagious, impetigo is not dangerous and can be done at home, such as:

Avoid scratching or touching the injured area
Do not lend personal items to friends
Keep the wound clean
Wash your hands with soap after using the toilet
Wash items that have been used
Cut nails so that the child does not scratch and make cuts

In order not to pass impetigo to other people, you can avoid using objects interchangeably. For example, towels, clothes, sheets, and other objects that are touched.

8. Influenza

This infectious disease is often experienced in children and adults. Influenza is a viral infection that starts in the throat with symptoms:

Fever above 39 degrees Celsius
Cough
Cold
Headache
Muscle ache

Influenza-infected children usually recover within two to seven days.

Influenza is a highly contagious infectious disease and can be spread through the air by coughing and sneezing, touching hands, or other objects that have been touched by an infected person.

To reduce the risk of catching the flu, influenza vaccine can be given to babies aged 6 months to children aged 5 years.

However, influenza can also lead to complications or severe flu, namely:

Pneumonia
Bronchitis
Recurrence of asthma
Heart problems
Hearing infection

Pneumonia is the most serious complication of flu, so it needs certain medical treatment.

9. Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR)

Measles is an infectious disease caused by a virus which is highly contagious in children and adults. Quoting from the Mayo Clinic, the most common symptoms of measles are:

High fever up to 40 degrees Celsius
Red and watery eyes
Cold
Sneezing
Dry cough
Sensitive to light
Fatigue
Decreased appetite

In addition, the most common symptom of infectious disease in children is a reddish skin rash that appears 7-14 days after exposure and can last for 4-10 days.