Childhood Diseases - Alternative Treatment for Childhood Diseases

There are childhood immunisations for 12 infectious diseases in all. The BCG (which protects against tuberculosis) and hepatitis B immunisations are offered to babies considered at high-risk of catching these diseases. The other ten are offered routinely to every baby as part of the pre-school immunization programmer. Read on to find out more about these immunisations and the diseases they protect against.

Diseases can be devastating for anyone, but it seems particularly unfair when they attack children. Unfortunately, many diseases seem to take a special interest in the young, infecting them more frequently and vigorously than they do adults.

Ear Aches
Earaches are extremely common in young children. Although they are not themselves infectious, they are caused by upper respiratory infections, which are infectious. These infections are spread through contact with respiratory secretions-through coughing and sneezing.

Treatment

Applying heat to the ear, which may help relieve the earache? Use a warm washcloth or a heating pad. Do not allow your child to go to bed with a heating pad, because he or she could get burned. Use a heating pad only if your child is old enough to tell you if it's getting too hot.

Mumps

Mumps which got its name from an Old English word meaning grimace, is also caused by a virus. The incubation period is 12 to 25 days, but 20 to 40 percent of those infected show no symptoms. In 1964, 213,393 cases of mumps occurred in the United States. Today there are between 4,500 and 13,000 cases per year.

Treatment

Drink plenty of fluids and eat properly. The diet should be light.
Pain relievers may be used for comfort.
For most children, the swelling in their glands goes away in a week. Any child with mumps should not return to school or day care for 9 days after the start of parotid swelling.

Rubella

Rubella is spread when a person breathes in droplets of coughs or sneezes from an infected person. A person can spread the disease for several days before the rash appears and for up to a week after the rash goes away. Rubella is caused by a different virus than the one that causes regular measles, so children need to have both measles and a rubella vaccine.

Treatment

Boil a few neem leaves for half an hour. Drain this neem water. Wash the face with neem water. Dab the skin with a clean cloth. Do not scrub the face.

Chickenpox

Chickenpox itself is not usually serious in children unless they are newborn, are being treated with chemotherapy for cancer, are HIV positive, or are taking steroids. In those cases, the illness can take advantage of the weakened immune system, causing severe illness and even death.

Treatment

Frequent baths are sometimes helpful to relieve itching. Adding finely-ground (colloidal) oatmeal such as Aveeno can help improve itching. Oatmeal baths can be prepared at home also by grinding or blending dry oatmeal into a fine powder and adding about 2 cups to the bath water. One-half to one cup of baking soda may also be added to bath water to reduce itching.