HEALTH TIPS (2)
Have you noticed many children are falling sick during this rainy season in tropical regions? Rainy season provides breeding medium for many disease vectors!
One of the common sicknesses of children during this period is cataarh(common cold). The symptoms include runny/blocked nose,cough,fever.
Presently,there is no vaccine against common cold.Why? There are more than 250 virues that can cause cataarh! So scientists are still unable to come up with an effective vaccine against them.For now,what can we do?
Prevent your children from getting drenched in the rain.This goes a long way to reduce the incidence of common cold.Keep them warm during this season.
Cataarh is contagious,therefore in order to prevent it from spreading to others:
Let those with it ensure regular hand washing.
They should move away from others when sneezing.It is not love that makes you to open your mouth to swallow or inhale the droplets from someone with cataarh! It is ignorance.
Let them have an handkerchief to clean the runny nose.
Stop giving antibiotics to treat common cold! It is a virus that causes it,not bacteria! Antibiotics are only used if the doctors are thinking of a superimposed bacteria infection on the cataarh.
For children with blocked nostrils due to cataarh, steam inhalation is very effective in loosening the thick mucus.
How to do steam inhalation: Get a small bowl,pour hot water into it and put two to three drops of “Silver Bird” into it.Get two hand towels,dip one into the water and use the second towel to squeeze out the hot water from the first towel. It must be well squeezed so that it won’t burn the child’s skin.
Now put the first towel close to the nostrils of the child so that the steam can be inhaled by the child.Repeat this several times and you will notice that the cataarh will be flowing freely.Don’t compress the nostrils with the towel please.It can burn the child.
For it to be effective, do it three times in a day for 3 days consecutively.
Another common complaints by parents about their children during this rainy season is high body temperature.They say the children’s bodies are hot.
My first advice is this: Don’t rely on your hands to check a child’s temperature.Many have done that but have regretted it.Your hands are very subjective when it comes to checking body temperature.Many times,when you just use hands to check the child’s temperature, you might not know that the temperature has gotten to 39°C and at that temperature many children may convulse! So it is important that every house with children should have at least a functional digital thermometer.
USE DIGITAL THERMOMETER TO CHECK YOUR CHILD’S TEMPERATURE.
It is cheap,buy one! Put it under the armpit of the child.
It is easier to read!
Anytime the temperature is above 37.5°C, the child is hot! That child needs attention.
If the child is overwrapped or wearing thick clothing, pull it off.Soak a towel with warm water and tepid sponge the child while you are making arrangement to see your doctor.
Stay healthy.
