Comments (0)Food Allergy is an immune system response to a food that the body mistakenly believes is harmful. Once the immune system decides that a particular food is harmful, it creates specific antibodies to it in an attempt to protect the body. The next time the child eats that food, the immune system releases massive amounts of chemicals (including histamine) in order to protect the body.
These chemicals trigger a cascade of allergic symptoms that can affect breathing, the heart, the skin, or the gastrointestinal tract. Most food allergies trigger reactions such as itching, hives, and swelling, but in some cases a more serious response known as anaphylactic shock can occur. This leads to a loss of consciousness or even death.
Scientists estimate that between six and seven million Americans suffer from true food allergies. Many food allergies disappear as the child gets older; about a third of cases disappear in one to two years if the child carefully avoids the offending item. However, allergies to peanuts, nuts, fish, and shellfish often do not disappear with time. Many different common foods may trigger an allergic reaction, including citrus fruits, dairy products, wheat, eggs, fish, cola drinks, artificial coloring, shellfish, berries, tomatoes, pork, and nuts. Infants prone to allergies may be especially sensitive to milk and milk products, wheat, eggs, and citrus fruits.
Allergic reactions can be caused by even very tiny (even undetectable) amounts of the food. For example, a child who is allergic to peanuts could go into anaphylactic shock after eating a food that only has been touched by peanuts. Food additives also may cause problems. About 15 percent of children who are allergic to aspirin are also sensitive to Yellow Dye # 5 (tartrazine).
Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) is an uncommon condition caused by infection with Staphylococcus bacteria, characterized by a distinctive skin rash resembling sunburn on the palms and soles of the feet. The condition, first recognized in the 1970s, is associated with the use of certain brands of highly absorbent tampons (now taken off the market). About 70 percent of cases occur in girls and women who were using tampons when symptoms begin. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration estimates that one out of every 100,000 menstruating girls and women develops toxic shock syndrome (TSS) each year.
About three percent of TSS cases are fatal. Since 1984 there have been 69 reports of death related to tampon use; all but three were caused by TSS. However, the risk of death from TSS is higher in cases not related to menstruation.
Toxic Shock Syndrome Symptoms
When related to menstruation, TSS symptoms may not begin until the first few days after a girl’s period and tend to appear quickly. In addition to the skin rash, symptoms include sudden high fever, vomiting and diarrhea, headache, muscular aches and pains, dizziness, and disorientation. Blood pressure may drop rapidly and shock may develop. The sunburn-like rash may not develop until the patient is very ill, or it may go completely unnoticed if it appears in a small area. The skin on palms and feet may flake and peel. Once a person has had TSS, she is more likely to get it again. Death usually occurs as a result of a prolonged drop in blood pressure or lung problems.
Inflammation of the membranes (lining) of the brain and spinal cord, caused by viral, bacterial or rarely fungal infections. It should always be taken seriously, especially in babies, children, teenagers and young adults as it can be life-threatening.
Meningitis Symptoms
- Neck Stiffness: it is not possible to bend the head forward and bending the neck exacerbates the headache
- Headache, usually severe in intensity and generalised
- Vomiting
- General feeling of being ill and unusually irritable (this may be a significant symptom in a baby or child)
- Fever
- Purple rash
- Exposure to light is extremely painful (photobia)
- May be double vision
- Consciousness impaired, drowsiness and confusion
- May be painful, swollen and protruding eyes with restricted movement caused by blood clots in the tissues behind the eyes
- Progressive drowsiness
- May be convulsions
- May unconsiousness and coma
Earache and pain, experienced in or around the ear. This maybe caused by conditions ranging from relatively mild to very severe, and pain may be referred from the teeth or mouth. Severe and prolonged pain should prompt a visit to the doctor or dentist.
Possible Conditions
- Ear Infection
- Tonsilitis
- Rodent Ulcer
- Teething Pain
Ear Infection
Infection of the middle ear and inflammation of the ear drum, caused by viruses such as the Common Cold or by bacteria. The ear drum may burst although it will normally heal.
Kidney Scan
The kidney scan uses radioisotopes to identify problems with the structure and function of the kidney. These scans are used after kidney transplants and to diagnose kidney failure, disorders, and infections.
In this test, the child lies on a table and a substance with a small amount of a radioisotope is injected into a vein. Then the kidneys are scanned, and images are sent to a computer. Results will be read by a radiologist and sent to the child’s doctor, who will present them to the parents.
Liver or Gallbladder Scan
The liver or gallbladder scan uses radioactive isotopes to look for liver or gallbladder damage: hepatitis, cirrhosis, abscess, infection, cancer, or injury. After a radioisotope is injected into a vein, it is absorbed by the liver or gallbladder. During the test, the child lies on a table under a scanner; the radioactive material is then picked up by a scanner, which transmits images to a computer. The radiologist interprets the findings and sends them to the child’s doctor, who will present them to the parents.
Lung Scan
A nuclear lung scan helps to determine the presence of a blood or abnormal formation of the lung. In this test, radioactive gas lung tracers are given by inhalation or injection so that the chest can be scanned. These scans can also be used to study malformations of the lung. The results will be read by a radiologist and sent to the child’s doctor, who will present them to the parents.
There are a wide variety of medical tests that can help diagnose diseases and conditions in children. These include scans (CT, MRI, nuclear), echocardiography, ultrasounds, X ray, and scans of bone, kidney, lung, thyroid, and urinary bladder.
CT Scan (Computed Tomography, or CAT scan)
CT scans provide many cross-sectional images of the body by using special X rays and computer enhancement to create an image that is much more sensitive than a simple X ray. After x-raying the body from many angles, the X rays are then analyzed by a computer to provide a picture of the body that can be viewed on a monitor or printed out as a photograph. The images show a composite slice of the body (usually the head, chest, or abdomen). In this procedure, a child lies flat on a movable table that moves into the center of the CT scanner.
As the child remains still, X rays are beamed into the body. If the child cannot remain still, sedatives are administered. Sometimes a dye or other contrast material is injected to better reveal blood vessels. Results are interpreted by radiologists and then reported to the child’s doctor, who will analyze and interpret them for the parents.
Echocardiography
This procedure uses a special device to detect the sound that is reflected from a beating heart. Sometimes called “diagnostic cardiac ultrasound,” this test uses reflected sound waves to show if a child has congenital heart defects, fluid around the heart, valve disorders, or weakened heart muscles. It is possible to actually see the heart move as the images are projected on a monitor. The direction of blood flow into and out of the heart can be seen in different colors on the monitor.
In this procedure, a child lies on his back, tilted slightly to the side. A special jelly is applied to the skin on the area of the heart, and the transducer is positioned over the heart. As sound waves are reflected back to the transducer, an image becomes visible on a monitor that can be turned into printouts from the screen. This test produces no radiation and the child experiences no discomfort. Although images are produced immediately, they must be interpreted by a cardiologist and sent to the child’s doctor, who will interpret them for the parents.
Salmonella Poisoning is known medically as salmonellosis, this major type of food poisoning is caused by bacteria that multiply rapidly at room temperatures. Every year about four million cases of salmonellosis are reported in the United States. Children are the most likely to get salmonellosis, and young children are among those most likely to have severe infections. Experts estimate that about 600 people die each year with acute salmonellosis.
Salmonellosis is very common in this country; bonemeal, fertilizer, and pet foods all may be implicated in the spread of the disease. In particular, recent outbreaks have been linked to chickens and eggs; it is estimated that 35 percent of all chickens in processing plants harbor the bacteria. The largest outbreak ever recorded occurred in 1994 and involved more than 200,000 Americans. In this case, commercially pasteurized ice cream premix was contaminated by bacteria during transport to a Minnesota ice cream plant in tanker trailers that had previously carried nonpasteurized liquid eggs. The outbreak ended only after sales of the ice cream were stopped.
Rotavirus is the common name for a family of viruses that share several features (Reoviridae). The group A rotaviruses are the most common cause of severe diarrhea in children, striking 130 million people a year. It causes a diarrhea so severe that 870,000 children die from this virus around the world every year. While few U.S. children die, the disease still sends 50,000 of them to the hospital every year.
If an infant or toddler develops diarrhea in the winter, there is a good chance that a rotavirus is the culprit. By age four, most people have been infected and developed antibodies to the virus. While the disease is not particularly deadly in the United States among children with healthy immune systems, rotavirus in the developing world is often fatal because the children are already malnourished when they become infected. In the United States, the chance a child will be hospitalized with rotavirus is one in 40, and one in every 800 hospitalized children will die. The rotavirus season begins in late fall and ends in the spring.
