Respiratory System Diseases When They Attack Children
Respiratory system diseases don't just attack adults; certain forms of respiratory disease can be a really troublesome and a worrying affliction in young children - like respiratory syncytial virus for instance.
RSV is an infection that attacks a child's lungs and bronchial passages.
And it makes many young children very ill.
A grown person who contracts RSV is usually strong enough to not display anything worse than a runny nose, a head that feels heavy, a cough, a sore throat and maybe a fever.
In young children though respiratory system diseases like these can do considerably more than that.
They can affect the heart, the lungs and any bodily system.
And that is only the beginning.
Before long, an RSV infection in young children can invite all kinds of serious opportunistic infections along for the ride as well.
Since RSV makes anyone sniffle and sneeze like they have a cold, it spreads in exactly the kinds of ways that a cold does.
Kids get it from other kids in school when they sneeze and eject droplets in the air.
Not that this is any reason to get alarmed though.
It should make you feel better to know that almost every child gets RSV at least once before she turns two.
Just as the common cold doesn't come with a cure, RSV doesn't offer itself up for a cure either.
Most of the time, doctors don't even need to tell RSV apart from a regular common cold.
Children usually get this sometime in the winter.
And after a week or two, it disappears on its own, just as the common cold does.
It's only when a child is generally sickly with other kinds of health problems that a specific RSV diagnosis can help.
The doctor tests the child's mucus to determine what exactly it is.
You can help keep a child safe from respiratory system diseases by cluing her in on the ways that she's to keep herself safe from the common cold - washing hand hands often, making sure that she doesn't touch anything that someone else with a cold touches, and not being around someone who's sneezing.
There is a more regular way of keeping RSV at bay too.
Children who seem to be at risk of an infection can go to the doctor once a month during the "in" season for a kind of vaccine.
It's a vaccine that only lasts a month each time.
There is no kind of specific treatment that is called for in most cases of respiratory system diseases.
They clear up on their own; and antibiotics don't really help either (antibiotics only help with diseases that bacteria cause - not ones that viruses cause).
It's entirely a different matter if a child with RSV happens to be an infant though.
Infants need to be placed in hospitals so that any breathing difficulties may be treated as soon as they occur.
The best that you can do for an older child with respiratory system diseases would be to make the indoor air in your home moist enough with a humidifier.
In the winter, internal heating can dry the air out and make it more difficult for a child with RSV to breathe.
Whatever you do though, don't give any child any aspirin.
RSV is an infection that attacks a child's lungs and bronchial passages.
And it makes many young children very ill.
A grown person who contracts RSV is usually strong enough to not display anything worse than a runny nose, a head that feels heavy, a cough, a sore throat and maybe a fever.
In young children though respiratory system diseases like these can do considerably more than that.
They can affect the heart, the lungs and any bodily system.
And that is only the beginning.
Before long, an RSV infection in young children can invite all kinds of serious opportunistic infections along for the ride as well.
Since RSV makes anyone sniffle and sneeze like they have a cold, it spreads in exactly the kinds of ways that a cold does.
Kids get it from other kids in school when they sneeze and eject droplets in the air.
Not that this is any reason to get alarmed though.
It should make you feel better to know that almost every child gets RSV at least once before she turns two.
Just as the common cold doesn't come with a cure, RSV doesn't offer itself up for a cure either.
Most of the time, doctors don't even need to tell RSV apart from a regular common cold.
Children usually get this sometime in the winter.
And after a week or two, it disappears on its own, just as the common cold does.
It's only when a child is generally sickly with other kinds of health problems that a specific RSV diagnosis can help.
The doctor tests the child's mucus to determine what exactly it is.
You can help keep a child safe from respiratory system diseases by cluing her in on the ways that she's to keep herself safe from the common cold - washing hand hands often, making sure that she doesn't touch anything that someone else with a cold touches, and not being around someone who's sneezing.
There is a more regular way of keeping RSV at bay too.
Children who seem to be at risk of an infection can go to the doctor once a month during the "in" season for a kind of vaccine.
It's a vaccine that only lasts a month each time.
There is no kind of specific treatment that is called for in most cases of respiratory system diseases.
They clear up on their own; and antibiotics don't really help either (antibiotics only help with diseases that bacteria cause - not ones that viruses cause).
It's entirely a different matter if a child with RSV happens to be an infant though.
Infants need to be placed in hospitals so that any breathing difficulties may be treated as soon as they occur.
The best that you can do for an older child with respiratory system diseases would be to make the indoor air in your home moist enough with a humidifier.
In the winter, internal heating can dry the air out and make it more difficult for a child with RSV to breathe.
Whatever you do though, don't give any child any aspirin.
Source...