Promoting Health
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Immunizations - also called vaccinations, they prevent you from getting an illness by introducing a small amount of weak or dead cells into your body, and allowing you to create an immune response such as antibodies to protect you later if you come in contact with the disease. This is a safe and inexpensive way to protect people from disease.
Some diseases that can be prevented by immunization of children
- Polio - a viral disease marked by inflammation of nerve cells of the brain stem and spinal cord that results in paralysis. Treatment is bed rest.
- Measles - a highly contagious viral disease marked by distinct red spots followed by a rash; occurs primarily in children. Complications due to measles include: blindness, pneumonia, encephalitis, seizures and measles can be especially damaging to the fetuses of pregnant women. The death rate is approximately 10%.
- Mumps - a contagious viral disease characterized by fever and by swelling of the neck. Infected people will recover with rest. There is a vaccination available.
- Rubella (or German measles) - a contagious viral disease that is a milder form of measles lasting three or four days; can be damaging to a fetus during the first trimester. Infected people will recover with rest. There is a vaccination available.
- Diphtheria - a contagious bacterial infection marked by the formation of a false membrane in the throat and other air passages causing difficulty in breathing. Relatively few cases in the US due to the availability of a vaccine. Treatment includes hospitalization with anti-toxin and antibiotic medications.
- Tetanus - a serious infection of the central nervous system caused by bacterial infection of open wounds; spasms of the jaw and laryngeal muscles may occur during the late stages. The death rate is 70% and is ultimately caused by respiratory failure. Tetanus vaccines are administered to children at several intervals and adults receive boosters.
- Whooping cough - a disease of the respiratory mucous membrane, causes coughing and fever. Infants have the highest risk of death, however the antibiotic erythromycin can be used in early stages of the disease.
- Meningitis - infectious disease characterized by inflammation of the meninges (the tissues that surround the brain or spinal cord) caused by a bacterium or virus; symptoms include headache and stiff neck and fever and nausea. Bacterial meningitis can be treated with antibiotics to prevent neurological damage. Viral meningitis is not as serious.
- Chicken pox - a common, highly contagious disease that causes fever and fluid-filled blisters on the skin. 98% of affected individuals are 15 years of age or younger. Bed rest is the best treatment and medication can be used to relieve some symptoms. Adults who are susceptible to chicken pox may develop a more severe form called shingles. There is a vaccine available.
- Hepatitis B - an acute (sometimes fatal) form of viral hepatitis caused by a DNA virus that is transmitted by sexual contact or by blood transfusion or by ingestion of contaminated blood or other bodily fluids. Bed rest is needed to recover.
How often do you wash your hands?
One study done in middle and high schools shows that 58% of female students washed their hands after going to the bathroom, while only 48% of male students washed their hands.
In the same study it was found that females used soap 28% of the time, while male students only used soap 8% of the time.
Guinan ME, McGuckin-Guinan M, Sevareid A. Am J Infect Control. 1997 Oct;25(5):424-5.
Many cases of diarrhea and vomiting are caused by microbes acquired due to poor hand washing practices. Pneumonia and influenza, the seventh leading causes of death in the United States, can be acquired the same way. info from OhioHealth.org
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