Children are like flowers do not leave them to chance.

Children are like flowers do not leave them to chance.

So much can be done to keep them healthy and to make them good human beings.

All parents do every thing possible for children .

Yet diseases are increasing , stress in children is increasing ,drug abuse is increasing

crime is increasing,and so many other undesirable things are n rise.

where are we  going wrong n upbringing of our flowers.

Its time to ponder     and review.

we are responsible for vaccinating them , for giving them clean environment

for inculcating clean habits in them, for value based education rather than just

improving their percentage, for teaching them human dignity,,for their skill development.

LETS DO I NOW.

ARISE AWAE AND DREAM NO MORE.

DO NOT FORGET THE ROUTINE Vaccinations !

The routine vaccination to protect a baby starts when the baby is in mothers womb. The mother gets two shots of Tetanus toxoid in pregnancy so that newborn does not suffer from Neonatal tetanus which is a fatal disease and is still found in many developing countries.
BCG vaccine to prevent Tuberculosis or at least its complications is given at birth preferably . It can be given at later age also in susceptible population,
Polio drops are given at birth and at least three times in first year ,
repeated as boosters at 18months and 5 yrs of age.
Hepatitis B vaccine is given at birth and repeated at 1 and 6 months of age,
The DPT (diphtheria , whooping cough, tetanus ) vaccines are also given three times in first year and repeated at 18 months and 5 yrs of age. This booster is also repeated at 10yrs and at college going.
The whooping cough component in vaccine comes as acellular form
and is preferred by many.    The inject able polio   vaccine is combined with DPT and is available separately also.
The injectable Polio is additional to oral polio and is not to replace oral polio vaccine. The success of eradication of Polio from India is due to Pulse polio program by oral polio vaccine.
Measeles vaccine is given at 9 months of age, The MMR that is Measles Mumps and Rubella   at 15 months of age and repeated at 5 years and 15 years of age,  
Though there are vaccines available for Rotavirus diarrhea, some strains of pneumonia, Chickenpox , Hepatitis A and Hib meningitis and influenza for specific situations but the MOST essential vaccines should never be missed.                                                    

Children are like flowers they need tender care!

 Today while going through my old papers i found a handwritten note of a child to me whose parents
used to bring him to me for his aliments.
I still remember how he had secretly handed over the note to me while sitting on the examination couch
away from attention of his parents.
The note read like this"Doctor jee , please don't let my parents know that I am writing to you.
Please give strict instructions to my parents to let me eat what I like and not be a bully all the
time for everything. I promise to you I will eat healthy food and pizza only sometimes but only
if my parents are not kill joy. They have no other talk with me except Don't do this and do this.
Doctor please trust me , strict instructions to my parents can make me alright."
I can not remember what I might have done but I do believe that parents cant take children for
 granted and bully them all the time. Your children are only through you , they are not for you to
 fulfill all your unfulfilled dreams. They are like flowers , fresh , fragrant and full of joy giving abilities
provided they get loving tender care !

Enteric fever

Enteric fever or Typhoid fever is reemerging with resistant bacteria .
Its certainly a disease of in sanitation.
It is transmitted by 5 Fs  ie FLIES < FLUIDS < FECES < FINGERS.and FOOD
Open defecation as is still practiced in many parts of the world results in flies and also contamination of drinking water. Hand washing frequently can be a very scientific method of prevention of infection.
Cut fruits and open food can attract flies contamination resulting in typhoid.
Its a fever which can result into many complications and is getting difficult to treat as bacteria are acquiring resistance.
It can be best prevented by practicing sanitation and hygiene.
Its best prevented by very effective vaccine available against ths disease.
Children are precious inculcate practice of  sanitation and hygiene to avoid many dreaded diseases of insanitation.

Diseases of Insanitation .

I thought to myself that let me educate my countryman with a new approach.
Instead of telling the "dos" and "donts",let me just inform them about the consequences of in-sanitation. We know that majority of killer diseases like diarrhea, dysentery,typhoid,hepatitis, malaria, dengue, tuberculosis,measles ,swine flu, diphtheria,polio, tetanus etc are infectious diseases and all of them are preventable by our own efforts even at individual levels.
The prevention of all of them starts as soon as the baby is conceived.Taking two doses of tetanus vaccine during pregnancy and a safe institutional delivery will prevent neonatal tetanus which certainly is a very cheap prevention of this killer disease.Later in childhood and also in adult life regular immunisation will prevent it throughout life.
Starting mothers milk soon after birth and exclusive breast feeding for at least 6months of life will prevent diarrhea and dysentery.our insanitary habits of introducing bottle feeding out of fashion and many other unjust reasons is killing so many due to diarrhea!Even those who survive are surviving at high cost to individuals and community. Doctors often prescribe antibiotics and many other medicines which are in fact detrimental. Injudicious use of antibiotics is a major concern in drug resistence besides the economic factors and health hazards.
Another insanitation results from giving apple ,anar and palak juice to the baby . one can imagine theunhygeinic method of making these unnecessary juices which no baby needs.
The disease producing microbes are all over in our atmosphere due to our dirty habits. The indiscriminate disposal of human and animal excreta,the waste from homes , the leftover organic and inorganic matter in front of shops, homes ,after sabzi mandis, the fecal contamination of leaking pipes ,the un flushed excreta of blocked toilets, the ditches with stagnant water etc are store houses for germs like hepatitis, typhoid , shigella , ecoli , many parasites which the naked eyes can not see but they are in the air every where clinging to us looking for opportunity to invade us for their survival. The result is all the above diseases. Diarrheas , hepatitis , typhoid , dysentery are waterborne, malaria and dengue are also indirectly waterborne as the mosquitoes survive in stagnant water.
Typhoid is due to , dirty fingers , dirty fluids and flies which survive on feces .look at the cost of treatment of typhoid ,germs are getting resistant. The vaccine is available but how many parents do it regularly? Indiscriminate spitting and similar dirty habits spread the germs of tuberculosis. BCG vaccine at birth prevents tuberculosis to some extent.
Hepatitis of many varieties is waterborne and comes in epidemics killing so many. For some forms we have the preventive vaccines which also has to start right from birth.
Even HIV AIDS can be termed as disease of in sanitation of mind.
Why create diseases threw our dirty habits then research for cure and prevention?
ARISE AWAKE and dream no more fight in sanitation on war footing to save the human misery and economic burden.

Thalassemia minor.

I came across a few people who were diagnosed as thalassemia minor since their childhood but did not know the implications of this diagnosis. Now they are in their process of settling in life.
They have to be put wise or else it could be disastrous.
Any mild anemia can be due to Thalassemia minor and can not be detected unless tested for.
In India commonest anemia is nutrition deficiency anemia therefore doctors put the child on iron without any tests. If the underlying disease is thalassemia than iron load can be dangerous rather than improving the anemia.
The test for this condition is hemoglobin electrophoresis which is easily available.
If found to be having this condition , one should not take iron and MOST IMPORTANT IS NOT TO MARRY A PARTNER WITH THALASSEMIA MINOR. OTHERWISE CHILDREN BORN OF SUCH PARENTS WILL SUFFER FROM THALLESIMIA MAJOR . Thallasemia major is a very serious condition , where child can not live without weekly blood transfusions and methods of bringing out iron overload from the body.
The best is to go in for tests rather than matching Janam patri before marriage.
mind you this condition is pretty common in certain parts of world including Punjab in India.

Vaccinations for children in first year of life..

BCG vaccination should be given at birth , it is to prevent Tuberculosis. It can be given at any age if it is missed at birth. in two months it will be followed by a scar. If not , it needs re vaccination.
Polio drops are also administered at birth and are given at 6 week onwards in five doses one month apart in the first year of life. inject able polio is also available which can also be administered from 6 weeks onward along with oral polio.
Polio does not have cure , it results in crippling , but the prevention is simple and effective.
DPT vaccination protects against Diphthria , Whooping cough , and Tetanus. This is injected intra muscularly three times along with polio.
This is available as a pentavalent vaccine also in which polio and hepatitis vaccinations are also combined in the same injection. by this a single shot gives protection against 5 diseases. Diphthria is a serious disease affecting heart muscle , breathing muscles and is rapidly progressive towards death. So is Tetanus , a disease resulting into muscular paralysis and death. Whooping cough too is full of dreaded complications.
Hepatitis B vaccination is also administered at birth , after one month and after 6 months of the first dose. This protects against the dreaded life threatening Hepatitis B disease of the liver.
At 9 months of age Measles vaccination is given intramuscular , to prevent measles which is a contagious disease and is a biggest killer in first year of life in malnourished children. These vaccinations have to be followed with boosters in next few years or else the immunity will be lost. I shall deal with further vaccinations in my next blog. PREVENT DISEASES BY TIMELY VACCINATIONS.