Searching for trouble in children in .NET

Create QR Code in .NET Searching for trouble in children

Fortunately, the vast majority of children who fall ill don t have a serious underlying illness But because small children in particular can t often tell you what s wrong with them, you have to rely more heavily on a physical assessment when deciding whether your child may be suffering from a potentially more serious illness Reassuringly, though, this is far less common than many people think In a nutshell, here are a few things to look out for in children that on rare occasions need to prompt you to seek medical advice immediately (you can find more on recognising illness in children in s 14 to 17): Alertness: If your child appears sleepy or drowsy or doesn t respond to you, a serious injury or illness may be present Difficulty breathing: If your child s breathing is faster than usual, more laboured or you can hear new sounds (for example, wheezing or grunting), or your child s chest looks abnormal during breathing the skin

between your child s ribs is likely to get sucked in with each breath when breathing is difficult he may have a serious underlying illness such as a chest infection (You can find more information on breathing problems in children in 15) Fever: Fever a feeling of being hot and cold or sweaty, and when the body temperature rises above 38 degrees Celsius (1004 degrees Fahrenheit) in children is extremely common and in most cases not due to any serious underlying illness s 14 and 15 tell you more about danger signs to check for when your child has a fever and when you don t have to worry Head injury: Always take head injury in children seriously, particularly if your child is drowsy, has lost consciousness, has a severe headache or vomits (you can read more about head injuries in children in 15) Look out for any open head wound and whether you can see any blood or clear fluid coming out of your child s nose or ears, which suggests a more serious head injury Persistent vomiting/diarrhoea: Your child may lose too much fluid and be dehydrated through persistent vomiting or diarrhoea (Check out 14, which tells you what to look out for specifically) Rashes: Rashes are common in children and can have various causes most are benign, but some may be due to serious underlying illness, particularly if your child also has a fever 15 tells you the signs to watch out for Stomach pain: Most children have occasional tummy aches, which by themselves aren t much to worry about when they re not severe, your child is otherwise well and the aches go away by themselves However, if your child s tummy seems bloated or he doesn t let you touch it, the problem may be a more serious one, such as appendicitis ( 16 contains more information on tummy pain in children) Many parents start to worry or panic when their child falls ill and they don t know whether something serious may be going on The good news is that the vast majority of children don t fall severely ill, even when they appear miserable or cry a lot Conditions that parents often worry about such as meningitis or cancer are fortunately very rare In most cases your child will be suffering from an illness that gets better by itself, such as a viral infection, and treating the symptoms, and making your child feel better until the illness has passed, is the most important thing to do Nevertheless, even though they re rare, serious illnesses do occur in children If you re worried or unsure what s wrong with your child, seek medical help, particularly in the case of babies and children under one year of age (For more information about childhood illnesses see s 14 17)