Your Child's Favorite Food Can Be a Source of Hepatitis A

Hepatitis A is a highly infectious liver disease. It is caused by a virus. In serious cases, it can lead to death. Hepatitis A can be spreaded through faecal contamination and then by hand to mouth contact. This is why children are particularly at risk. It can be spreaded by somebody who simply forget to wash his or her hands after changing diaper or using the bathroom. It be spreaded through contaminated food and water. Contamination shellfish is a common source of infection. It is also known to spread in a child care centre environment. The virus itself is extremely resistant and is not easily destroyed. It can survive for a very long time in the environment.

The symptoms of Hepatitis A may include fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nauseam abdominal discomfort, dark colored urine and jaundice. If you have any doubts, you should consult your doctor for clinical tests.

In November 2003, 3 people died and almost 500 people fell ill after eating contaminated food at a Pittsburgh restaurant. It is the biggest known outbreak of Hepatitis A in United States of America. Around 100 deaths occurs in the United States each year as a result of severe Hepatitis A infection.

Fortunately, there is a vaccine available to protect your child. It is suitable for infant as young as 1 year old. For older children, there is a combination vaccine that also protect against the more dangerous Hepatitis B. Hepatitis A infection in young children less than 6 years old, is problematic because there may not be any symptoms. They can spread the disease to other family members whle the disease is still not detected. In any cases, proper hygiene is very important. All it takes is one person's lapse in hygiene combined with faecal contamination. So do teach your child good hygiene practice.

What To Do When Your Child Has Diarrhoea

Causes of Diarrhoea

There are many causes of diarrhoea. Diarrhoea can be caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites or intolerance to certain food such as cow milk or fruit juices. Excessive intake of apple, banana or prune juice can cause diarrhoea. Intestinal or bowel disorder will also cause diarrhoea. Some medication such as antibiotics and antacids affects children resulting in watery stools.

Diarrhoea Can Lead More Serious Problems

Diarrhoea will lead to dehydration if not handled properly. The loss of body fluid can affect the body's normal functions. When suffering from diarrhoea, a child's intestinal lining may lose certain enzymes that are necessary for breaking down carbohydrates. Common cow's milk can aggravate the condition further leading to excessive fluid loss. For young children, this can lead to more serious health problem.

How to Handle Diarrhoea in Young Children

It is important to feed your child fliud frequently. Even if your child vomits, some fluid will still be absorbed. This will help to prevent dehydration. Your doctor may prescribe oral electrolyte solution. This help to quickly replenish fliud and electrolytes lost from your child's body. Do not use home made salt solution as the quantity of salt may be too much. Do not use sports drinks either. If in doubt consult your doctor.

Try to feed your child as normal as possible. Your child still need constant nutrition. Feed smaller portions if necessary. Serve more of the starchy food such as bread, pasta, cereal, rice or mashed potatoes. If your child show signs of intolerance to formula cow milk, you can switch to soy-based milk.

If your child's condition does not improve in 24 to 48 hours, you should consult the doctor again. Other signs to watch out for are blood in stools and  high temperature.

Signs of Dehydration

If your child shows these signs of dehydration, you should consult your doctor.

• No tears when crying
• Dark area around eyes
• Decreased urine production
• Dry tongue and mouth
• Sunken eyes
• Sunken soft spot on top of head

Keeping Your Child Safe From HFMD

HFMD or Hand Foot Mouth Disease, is a highly contagious disease. Children are also highly susceptible to other infections when affected by HFMD. In severe cases, the HFMD virus can damage a child's brain stem, which controls key functions such as breathing, digestion, eye movement and the beating of the heart.

To protect your children, it is important to teach them the importance of hygience as early as possible. Some habits to inculcate would be washing of hands with soap before meals and after going to the toilet, covering the mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing.

If you suspect your child has HFMD, consult a doctor immediately. Keep your child home from school, kindergarten or childcare centre to avoid spreading to other children. Do remember to inform the school so that they can monitor the other children for symptoms and prevent a outbreak. You should also keep your child away from all public places such as restaurants, playgrounds and shopping centres until he or she has fully recovered. This would be till all the blisters have dried up and there are no more symptoms. Consult your doctor if in doubt.

To prevent the spread of HFMD within the household, disinfect items such as toy, book, utensils, clothing and towel. Take note of items that can be contaminated by salvia and nasal secretion. Separate these items from other users. Look out for signs and symptoms in other family members. It is important to note that some infected people may not show obvious signs or symptoms that is why practising good hygiene is very important.

Advice For Parent on HFMD

HFMD or Hand Foot and Mouth Disease in young children is problematic as they are ill-prepared to cope with the symptoms. Parents are advised to consult a doctor early if they suspect that their child has symptoms of HFMD. They should also be on the alert to any change in their child's behaviour, such as irritation and sleepiness. Should a child refuse to eat or drink properly, start having persistent vomiting or is drowsiness, the parents should bring their child to the nearest hospital.

Prevention of HFMD

When there is a serious outbreak of HFMD, as far as possible, parents should consider keeping their children away from crowded public places. If the child show signs of infection, parents should keep the child away from schools, play groups and other public places in public transport. Family members should be advised to follow good hygiene practices, including frequent hand washing, to limit the spread of the infection in the household.

Spanking Young Children Can Lead To Aggressive Behaviour Later

Children who are spanked by their parent frequently at age of three are more likely to develop aggressive behaviour when they're five. This is according to a recent study published in the May 2010 issue of the journal Paediatrics. In the study, researchers surveyed 2,500 mothers with young children of the age of three. It was found that two years later, the mothers who had spanked their children more frequently reported higher levels of aggressive behaviour such as arguing, shouting, screaming, fighting, destroying things, acts of cruelty or bullying in their children.

In the survey done at the children's age of three, nearly half of the mothers had said that they had not spanked their children in the past month, while 27.9 per cent said reported spanking one or two times and 26.5 reported spanking more than twice.

The result of the study reinforce earlier studies which have found that young children who are spanked have lower IQ scores. Frequent spanking during childhood has been linked to growing up problems such as anxiety and behaviour problems as well as higher risk of violent or criminal behaviour, depression and excessive alcohol use.

The American Academy of Paediatrics strongly discourage striking children for any reason and recommends more effective means such as time outs, withholding special privileges and logical consequences for bad actions like taking toys away for the rest of the day if a child does not keep them properly after play.




Perhaps, I am one of the outliers. I was punished almost weekly by my Chinese language teacher in Primary 3 and Primary 5. I had the misfortune of having that horrible man as my teacher twice. I failed almost all my weekly spelling and I swear, by the smirk on his face, that he took delight in slapping my palm with a ruler or hitting my buttock. I do not remember the physical pain. It is the shame and humiliation that haunts me. I grew up hating the subject and today, I cannot read and write in Chinese. But I digressed. Despite being spanked, I do not think that I have aggressive behaviour today. I do not punish my daughter by spanking. I do not see the need for punishment in the past two years. I had only made her stand in a corner twice when she was younger. It is a simple thing but the fact that I am angry enough to punish her is punishment enough for my daughter. So, do I have aggressive behaviour? I think not.

Rheumatic Heart Disease

Rheumatic fever is the most dangerous of the common diseases that can afflict a child. It can lead to rheumatic heart disease which a common child heart disease. It is dangerous because the symptoms can be mild and hard to recognise. In the worst case, it is difficult to assess whether it has subsided because it can lie dormant and yet do serious damage to the heart. The active infection can go on for months with inflammation of the heart. Hence, bed rest is important for a child with rheumatic disease. Children are most vulnerable to rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease between the age of 7 to 15 years old.

Rheumatic fever begins with a strep throat, pharyngitis or tonsillitis. Watch ut if your child develop a new fever while recovering from a strep throat or other streptococcus respiratory infection. Other symptoms include painful and swollen joints which are red and hot. Rashes are also common with the occasional nose bleed.The greatest danger of rheumatic heart disease is permanent damage to the heart due to leaky valve or muscle scarring. This is one form of child heart disease is preventable in most cases. Consult a doctor if your child has any of these symptoms. Early detection and treatment of rheumatic fever will prevent any serious damage to the heart.