Hesperian Health Guides
Childhood illnesses
HealthWiki > Helping Children Who Are Deaf > Chapter 15: Why children lose their hearing and what we can do > Childhood illnesses
Infection during childhood by diseases such as malaria, measles, mumps, or meningitis can damage the hearing nerve. Sometimes only one ear is affected, but meningitis usually affects both ears. For more about these illnesses, see Hesperian's book Where There Is No Doctor.
Contents
Prevent childhood illnesses with immunizations
Immunize children against all the childhood diseases — especially those that can cause deafness, such as measles, mumps, and rubella (German measles). Vaccinations are usually given free. It is better to take your children to be immunized than to take them for treatment when they are sick or dying.
If health workers do not immunize in your village, take your children to the nearest health center to be immunized. Or work together with other people in your area to bring health workers to your community. Immunizations save lives and hearing — they should be made easily available.
Treatment for childhood illnesses | ||||
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Children should stay in bed, drink lots of liquids, and eat nutritious food. If a baby cannot breastfeed, give breast milk in a spoon. | ||||
For fever: | ||||
Give paracetamol (acetaminophen). | ||||
If fluid starts draining from the ear | ||||
Give an antibiotic by mouth as for sudden infections. | ||||
If signs of chronic ear infection develop | ||||
See information about treatment. | ||||
If the child has diarrhea | ||||
Give rehydration drink in small sips, 1 glass for each watery stool. | ||||
In 1 liter of clean water mix half a teaspoon of salt with 8 teaspoons of sugar. Or make a watery porridge with 1 liter of clean water, half a teaspoon of salt and 8 heaped teaspoons of powdered cereal (rice flour, maize flour, wheat flour, sorghum, or cooked and mashed potatoes). | ||||
If signs of pneumonia, meningitis, or severe pain in the ear or stomach develop, get medical help. |
soft spot bulges up (babies under 1 year) | |
stiff neck | |
back arched, knees forward |
Signs of meningitis:
The signs of meningitis are severe headache and fever. The child may be sleepy and have fits or jerks. Sometimes there is vomiting and a rash. A child with meningitis may faint (quickly go unconscious).
Get medical help fast — every minute counts. Take the child to the hospital!
To treat meningitis while taking the child to a hospital | ||||
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Inject one of the following combinations of medicines in the muscle or in the vein. Injections in the vein should be done only by a well-trained health worker. If a health worker is not available, it is best to inject the child in a muscle. | ||||
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Dilute a 500 mg vial of ampicillin powder for injection with 2.1 ml sterile water. This makes a concentration of 500 mg per 2.5 ml. Dilute a 1 gram vial of ceftriaxone powder for injection with 3.5 ml sterile water. This makes a concentration of 1 g per 4 ml. |
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ampicillin | inject 50 mg per kilo of body weight, 4 times a day for at least 5 days | |||
AND | ||||
ceftriaxone | inject 100 mg per kilo of body weight, once a day for at least 5 days. | |||
If you cannot weigh the child, dose by age: | ||||
age 2 to 12 months | inject 2 ml ampicillin 4 times a day, AND 2 ml ceftriaxone once a day, for at least 5 days. | |||
age 1 to 3 years | inject 3 ml ampicillin 4 times a day, AND 4 ml ceftriaxone once a day, for at least 5 days. | |||
age 4 to 5 years | inject 5 ml ampicillin 4 times a day, AND 6 ml ceftriaxone once a day, for at least 5 days. | |||
Note: Do not give ceftriaxone to a baby younger than 2 months. | ||||
OR | ||||
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Dilute a 500 mg vial of ampicillin powder for injection with 2.1 ml sterile water. This makes a concentration of 500 mg per 2.5 ml. Use an undiluted 2 ml vial of gentamicin at 40 mg per ml. |
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ampicillin | inject 50 mg per kilo of body weight, 4 times a day for at least 5 days, | |||
AND | ||||
gentamicin | inject 7.5 mg per kilo of body weight, once a day for at least 5 days. | |||
If you cannot weigh the child, dose by age: | ||||
age 2 to 4 months | inject 1.5 ml ampicillin 4 times a day, AND 1 ml gentamicin once a day, for at least 5 days. | |||
age 4 to 12 months | inject 2 ml ampicillin 4 times a day, AND 1.5 ml gentamicin once a day, for at least 5 days. | |||
age 1 to 3 years | inject 3 ml ampicillin 4 times a day, AND 2 ml gentamicin once a day, for at least 5 days. | |||
age 4 to 5 years | inject 5 ml ampicillin 4 times a day, AND 3 ml gentamicin once a day, for at least 5 days. | |||
Note: Gentamicin is a very strong antibiotic of the aminoglycoside family that can only be given by injection. This drug can damage the kidneys and hearing, and therefore only should be used in emergencies. If the child is dehydrated (very dry mouth or not urinating) give oral rehydration drink until the dehydration is better before you give the gentamicin. See Where There Is No Doctor, published by Hesperian, for how to make and give oral rehydration drink. |
If other medicines are not available | ||||
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benzylpenicillin | inject 125,000 units per kilo of body weight, 4 times a day for up to 14 days. Do not give more than 4,000,000 units in each dose. | |||
AND | ||||
chloramphenicol | inject 25 mg per kilo of body weight, 4 times a day for up to 14 days.
Do not give more than 1 g in each injection. As soon as the child improves, give the same dose of chloramphenicol by mouth instead of injection, but do not give more than 750 mg by mouth each time. | |||
Note: Chloramphenicol should only be used for severe, life-threatening infections such as meningitis when other medicines are not available. |
Jaundice
Sometimes a baby becomes yellow soon after birth. This is a sign of jaundice. If the baby is energetic and breastfeeding well, a little yellow color is normal between 2 and 5 days old — the mother should keep breastfeeding often and let the baby get plenty of sun. The jaundice may be more severe if the yellow color starts from the first day after birth, if it extends to the hands and feet, or if the baby is unusually sleepy and sucks poorly. Get medical help. Severe jaundice can be dangerous, and may also cause hearing loss.
HIV/AIDS
Children with HIV/AIDS have low resistance to infections. Their lower immunity leads to increased risk of infections such as cytomegalovirus (CMV), syphilis, tuberculosis (TB), and some types of meningitis. All these illnesses can damage the ear.