Diseases 92
fifth Continue treatment for diarrhea until the child has had no stools or normal stools far 24 to 48 hours.
PRECAUTIONS
• Do not give antidiarrheal medications to infants. These are of no use and can cause severe problems.
• Solid foods aggravate diarrhea and can be avoided for many days without any danger to the child's general health. It is most important that the child drink plenty of liquids.
• Watch for symptoms of dehydration (infrequent urination, dryness in the mouth, sunken eyes, drowsiness, rapid or slow breathing, sunken soft spot on the top of an infant's head). If any symptoms of dehydration appear, call your doctor.
• Improperly prepared and improperly refrigerated formulas are a common cause of serious diarrhea in infants. Be especially careful when normal refrigeration and cooking facilities are not available (picnics, camping, traveling).
MEDICAL TREATMENT
If there are signs of dehydration, your doctor will determine the degree of seriousness. (The loss of 5 percent of a baby's weight indicates serious dehydration.) Stools may be cultured for bacteria. If necessary, your child may be placed in the hospital to be given intravenous fluids or to determine if the intestines are functioning properly.
RELATED TOPICS: Botulism; Constipation; Dehydration: Diarrhea in older children; Dysentery: Food allergies: Food poisoning; Gastroenteritis, acute; Viral infections; Vomiting?
Diphtheria
SYMPTOMS
• Persistent, severe sore throat
• Pus in throat
• Gray membrane in throat
• Fever
• Cough
• Difficulty in breathing
HOME CARE
• None.
Diagnosis and treatment must be handled by a doctor.
• If your child has a severe sore throat, see your doctor.
• If a child with a sore throat has not been immunized against diphtheria or had the appropriate diphtheria boosters, tell your doctor. Otherwise, the doctor may not look for diphtheria.
PRECAUTIONS
• Diphtheria is a serious (possibly fatal) illness.
• Prevent diphtheria by getting your children immunized and by getting required booster shots.
• If your child has not been immunized, every cough, sore throat, or case of croup could be diphtheria.
• If a child is having any trouble breathing, do not attempt to look in the child's throat
• Do not give cough medicine to a child who is having any trouble breathing.?
Ф Throat cultures to detect strep throat do not show diphtheria bacteria. A separate culture for diphtheria must be taken.
Ф A child may have both strep throat and diphtheria at the same time.
• A child who has not been immunized can catch diphtheria from a healthy person who is a carrier of diphtheria bacteria.
• Do not travel to an underdeveloped country where diphtheria is common without immunization and appropriate booster shots.
must be diagnosed by a doctor. The doctor will examine the ds throat and order a special nose and throat culture.
Diphtheria is a frequently fatal disease caused by a specific bacterium (Corynebacterium diphtheriae). chicken