4 of the Most Feared Illness Children Pick Up

Diarrhoeal diseases kill 1.5 million children every year and account for more than 10 percent of child mortality in India, says a report published by the International Reporting Project in February 2013. India faces the challenge of a range of infectious diseases. These infectious diseases are more common in young children primarily due to their weak immune systems and exposure to vulnerable environment.

Communicable Diseases Common in Children

Apart from diarrhoeal infections, here are 4 infectious illnesses that children pick up.

1. Viral Hepatitis – Viral hepatitis causes 78% of liver cancers and the hepatitis B virus alone infects an estimated one in three people worldwide. The public health concern of viral hepatitis is growing as the viruses are easily transmitted from person to person, according to an article published in GlobalHealth.gov. Hepatitis A is spread through a virus which can be present in food or water. It can also spread directly from person to person.
2. Measles – Measles is caused due to a virus. It can spread to children if they come in contact with the infected person's cough or sneeze or if they touch objects contaminated with it. It results in rashes all over the body, fever and cough.
3. Influenza – Influenza is caused by the influenza virus, it can spread both through direct and indirect contact. It causes fever, chills, headaches, muscle aches, extreme fatigue, dry cough and sore throat, and loss of appetite.
4. Malaria and Dengue – Malaria and dengue are both disease caused by mosquito bites. Children under five years of age are one of most vulnerable groups affected by malaria. There were an estimated 584000 malaria deaths around the world in 2013, of which approximately 78% were children under five years of age, according an article published by the World Health Organization. While Malaria is caused by female Anopheles mosquitoes which are carriers of parasites of the Plasmodium species, that have bitten someone with the infection, dengue on the other hand is caused by one of the four closely related virus. Apart from fever, headache, sever muscle and joint pain, it also results in sudden loss of blood platelet count. Both severe malaria and severe dengue can be fatal if not treated in time.

Some other communicable diseases found in children are Tuberculosis, Typhoid, Chicken Pox, and Lower Respiratory Tract Infection. You must get your child the necessary vaccines to safeguard him for future. Also, give cord blood banking a thought as the stems cells from the cord blood can help to treat as many as 80 diseases.