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$Title{Medical Advice:  Frequent Illnesses}
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Editors of Consumer Guide
Chasnoff, Ira J}
$Subject{Frequent Illnesses Illness lungs lung infection pneumonia respiratory
tract infections prolonged cough coughing cystic fibrosis asthma germs germ
ill local resistance defect defective immune system mechanism defects
sicknesses fight infectious diseases disease cold colds croup bronchiolitis
bronchitis allergy allergies allergic school daycare Isolate isolated
isolation sick sickness sicknesses}
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Your Child:  A Medical Guide


Frequent Illnesses


     Quick Reference

     SYMPTOMS
     - Frequent attacks of the same illness
     - Frequent different minor illnesses
     - Frequent complications of minor illnesses
     - Frequent major illnesses

     HOME CARE
     - Consider whether your child is actually ill more often than most other
       children.
     - Keep older children who are ill away from infants.
     - Keep an ill child away from your other children as much as is
       practical.
     - Isolating your healthy child from other children in an attempt to
       prevent illness can do more harm than good.

     PRECAUTIONS
     - Frequent illnesses are not necessarily a sign of an underlying medical
       problem.
     - The average, normal child between one and 12 years of age may have as
       many as eight illnesses per year.
     - If a child has frequent attacks of the same illness, discuss this with
       your doctor.
     - Frequent illnesses that could interfere with normal growth must be
       investigated.
     - Repeated pneumonia in the same part of a lung must be evaluated by your
       doctor.
     - Frequent lower respiratory tract infections with a prolonged cough can
       be a sign of cystic fibrosis or asthma.


     Parents often become concerned that their children are ill too
frequently.  Sometimes the parents are right, and the child does have some
underlying medical problem.  Normally, however, having many illnesses is not
due to any particular problem in the child.  How often a child becomes ill
usually depends on the number of children in the family and the number of
diseases to which each child is exposed.
     Except for accidents and allergies, 95 percent of all illnesses are
caused by germs that live exclusively in humans.  Most children's illnesses
are caught from other children.  Whether a child will catch a disease depends
on two factors:  whether the child is exposed to the germ and how strong the
child's resistance is.
     If your child is frequently ill with different minor illnesses, the
illnesses are usually due simply to exposure to many people.  As soon as a
child begins going to day care or school, the child is exposed to other
children with illnesses.  The number of children in a household also is a
factor.  Mathematically, a four-child family could have 16 times as many
childhood illnesses as a one-child family.
     A child who is frequently ill with the same illness may have a defect of
local resistance (a lowered resistance to disease in one area of the body).
For example, repeated pneumonia in the same part of a lung suggests an
abnormality in that area.
     A child with frequent major illnesses or frequent complications of minor
sicknesses may have a general lack of resistance.  This occurs with immune
mechanism defects, which hinder the child's ability to fight infectious
diseases.  For instance, colds that always end up as croup, bronchiolitis,
bronchitis, or pneumonia may indicate an underlying allergy or other immune
system defect.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS

     The first step is to decide whether a child is actually ill more often
than most other children.  Some reports show that the average normal child
between one and 12 years of age may have as many as eight illnesses per year.
Other figures show that a first child will seldom be ill during the first
year, but will have increasingly frequent illnesses as he or she begins to
play with other children and attend school.  An infant with older brothers or
sisters will be ill the first year as often as other children are.  To decide
if your child is ill too frequently, compare the number and seriousness of the
illnesses with those of the child's brothers, sisters, and friends.

HOME CARE

     How much your child is exposed to illnesses depends somewhat on you and
your circumstances.  Being overprotected and isolated from other children can
lead to emotional problems that could be harder to treat than physical
problems.  On the other hand, overexposure to other children who may be ill
can lead to an almost unbroken string of minor illnesses, especially in very
young children.  Keep older children who are ill--yours and your
neighbors'--away from infants.  Isolate any ill child from your other children
as much as is practical.

PRECAUTIONS

  -  Frequent illnesses that could interfere with normal growth must be
     investigated.  If the child stops gaining height or weight or begins to
     lose weight, see your doctor.
  -  Repeated pneumonia in the same part of a lung must be evaluated by your
     doctor.
  -  Frequent lower respiratory tract infections with a prolonged cough can be
     a sign of cystic fibrosis or asthma.

MEDICAL TREATMENT

     Your doctor will help you decide whether your child is ill more often
than others of the same age and under similar circumstances.  If it appears
that he or she is, your doctor will seek the cause through a variety of
diagnostic studies, such as a sweat test, measurement of immune globulins and
other blood tests, x-ray examination of the chest and sinuses, nose and throat
cultures, and allergy tests.  You may be referred to a specialist in disorders
of the immune system, to an allergist, or to an ear, nose, and throat
specialist.

RELATED TOPICS:  Asthma; Common cold; Cystic fibrosis; Pneumonia