What is a baby’s natural immunity?
Where antibodies are passed from the mother to the unborn baby through the placenta, immunity can also be passed through breastfeeding.
What is a vaccination?
The term is used for getting a vaccine, it is an oral or injection dose which helps to protect children against a range of serious and potentially fatal diseases.
What is meant by the term immunisation?
This refers to the process of both getting the vaccine and becoming immune to the disease through a vaccine.
How do vaccines work?
- Vaccines trigger the immune system to respond and the white blood cells produce antibodies to attack the microbe.
- The microbe is made harmless therefore destroyed quickly.
- If a microbe attacks the body, the memory cells produce antibodies to attack and destroy it quickly.
What are some general SIGNS of illness?
- tiredness/disturbed sleep
- lack of desire to play
- becoming clingy
- irritable behaviour
- crying
What are some symptoms of illness?
-vomiting
-diarrhoea
-high temperature
-breathing difficulties
-fitting
-develops rash
-unresponsive
-cough
-runny/blocked nose
-headache
swollen glands
When do you call an ambulance?
- if the child is unresponsive
- if the child has meningitis
- if child is ill after 24 hours of food poisoning
What are the 10 childhood ailments and diseases?
- common cold
- chicken pox
- food poisoning
- gastroenteritis
- measles
- mumps
- pertussis (whooping cough)
- rubella (german measles)
- scarlet fever
- tonsillitis
What are the symptoms of gastroenteritis?
- vomiting
- diarrhoea
- signs of dehydration
What are the 4 needs of an unwell child?
- physical
- social
- emotional
- intellectual
Why may some children not have a healthy diet?
- family on low income
- no time
- lack of nutritional knowledge
- media encouraging unhealthy eating
How can you prepare a child for a hospital stay emotionally?
- talking to child
- help to understand situation
- calm nerves
- comfort from hospital characters on shows and movies
How can you prepare a child for a hospital stay intellectually/physically?
- teach about their own health
- educate them on what happens in hospital and why they are there
How can you prepare a child for a hospital stay socially?
visits from parents and loved ones
