Common Childhood
Diseases
Chickenpox



Incubation: It takes from 10-21, usually 14-16
days, after being exposed until symptoms develop.
Contagious: From 1-2 days before the rash begins
until blisters have become scabs.
Exclusion: Until all the blisters have dried into
scabs and no new blisters or sores have stared
within the last 24 hours; usually 6 days after the
rash begins.
Conjunctivitis
“Pinkeye”



Incubation: It takes 1-12 days depending on
the organism, usually 1-3 days, after exposure
for symptoms to begin.
Contagious: While symptoms are present.
Exclusion:
Usually no exclusion. However,
if the student has a fever, eye pain, and pus
contact your healthcare provider. Children with
bacterial conjunctivitis are not to return to
school before 24 hours after antibiotic therapy
started.
Click me!
Croup
Normal Airway
Airway Causing Croup
Duration: The symptoms of croup generally peak 2 to 3 days
after the symptoms of infection start. Croup resulting from
viral infection usually lasts less than a week.
Complications: The vast majority of children recover from croup
with no complications. Rarely, some children will develop
complications such as ear infection or pneumonia.
Prevention: Frequent hand washing and avoiding contact with
people who have respiratory infections are the best ways to
reduce the chance of spreading the viruses that cause
croup.
Fifth Disease



Incubation: 4-21 days, usually 1-14 days
from time of infection to onset of
symptoms.
Contagious: Most contagious before
onset of rash, and is unlikely to be
contagious after the rash begins.
Exclusion:
None, if other rash
causing illness is ruled out y a healthcare
provider; since persons with fifth disease
are no longer infectious once the rash
begins.
Giardiasis
Transmission: Contaminated water
animal reservoir
Symptoms: foul-smelling diarrhea, cramps,
flatulence, fatty stools

Complications: Severe malabsorption
disease

Pathogenesis: Cysts hatch after passage
through stomach; trophozoites have
sucking disks to attach to intestinal lining,
resulting in malabsorption of nutrients

Treatment: Quinacrine or metronidazole

Hand, Foot,
Mouth Disease



HFMD is a mild illness that gets better in a few
days, without any treatment. Antibiotics will not be
any help in treating it because it is a virus.
Do not give aspirin, or medications containing
aspirin, to children under sixteen years old. You
should encourage your child to drink plenty of
fluids to reduce the chance of dehydration due to
the high temperature.
The spread of hand, foot and mouth disease can
be reduced by frequent handwashing, putting your
hand over your mouth when coughing and
sneezing into a handkerchief or tissue.
Haemophilus
influenzae





Mainly affects infants and children up to 5 years.
Meningitis symptoms - generally unwell, fever, headache, vomiting,
irritability, neck stiffness, refusing feeds, drowsiness, confusion,
seizures, coma. Sensorineural hearing loss and neurodevelopmental
disorders may result as sequelae of meningeal infection.
Epiglottitis - rapid onset of fever and dyspnoea (breathing difficulty)
progressing to dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), pooling of oral
secretions and drooling of saliva. Affected individuals characteristically
sit upright with their neck extended and tongue protruding to mitigate
the effects of airway obstruction.
Can also cause septic arthritis, cellulitis, pneumonia, septicaemia,
osteomyelitis, bacteraemia and empyema in infants and young
children. Individuals with septicaemia may develop gangrene requiring
limb amputation.
Disseminated intravascular coagulation may result from septicaemic
shock
Head Lice






Don't use a hair dryer on your child's hair after
applying any of the currently available scalp
treatments, because some contain flammable
ingredients.
Don't use a cream rinse or shampoo/conditioner
combination before applying lice medication.
Don't wash your child's hair for 1 to 2 days after using
a medicated treatment.
Don't use sprays or hire a pest control company to try
to get rid of the lice, as they can be harmful.
Don't use the same medication more than three times
on one person. If it doesn't seem to be working, your
child's doctor may recommend another medication.
Don't use more than one head lice medication at a
time.
Hepatitis A





Follow good hygiene and avoid crowded, unhealthy living
conditions.
Take extra care, particularly when drinking and swimming,
if you travel to areas of the world where sanitation is poor
and water quality is uncertain.
Never eat shellfish from waters contaminated by sewage.
Remind everyone in your family to wash their hands
thoroughly after using the toilet and before eating.
Use antiseptic cleansers to clean any toilet, sink, pottychair, or bedpan used by someone in the family who
develops hepatitis.
Impetigo



Incubation: 1-10 days from the
time a person is exposed until
symptoms develop.
Contagious: Until sores are healed,
or person has been treated with
antibiotics for a full 24 hours.
Exclusion:
Until child has been
treated with antibiotics for a full 24
hours.
Neisseria
meningitis
•
Incubation: This varies with the
organism causing the meningitis.
The incubation periods for the most
common causes of meningitis range
from 2 days to 2 weeks.
•
Duration: Even with proper
treatment, bacterial meningitis may
take days (and sometimes weeks)
to resolve, and recovery from its
effects may take even longer. Most
cases of viral meningitis resolve
completely within 1 to 2 weeks.
Pinworms





Remind your child to wash his or her
hands after using the toilet, after playing
outside, and before eating.
Make sure your child showers or bathes
every day and changes underwear daily.
Keep your child's fingernails short and
clean.
Tell your child not to scratch around his or
her bottom or bite his or her nails.
Wash your child's pajamas every few days.
Pneumonia
Be Safe Vaccinate!
Pneumonia
•
Incubation: The incubation period for pneumonia varies,
depending on the type of virus or bacteria causing the
infection. Some common incubation periods are: respiratory
syncytial virus, 4 to 6 days; influenza, 18 to 72 hours.
•
Duration: With treatment, most types of bacterial
pneumonia can be cured within 1 to 2 weeks. Viral
pneumonia may last longer. Mycoplasmal pneumonia may
take 4 to 6 weeks to resolve completely.
•
Contagiousness: The viruses and bacteria that cause
pneumonia are contagious and are usually found in fluid
from the mouth or nose of an infected person. Illness can
spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes on a
person, by sharing drinking glasses and eating utensils, and
when a person touches the used tissues or handkerchiefs
of an infected person.
Scabies

Doctors treat scabies by prescribing a
medicated cream or lotion to kill the
mites. The cream will need to be
applied to the skin all over the body,
not just the area with the rash, and
usually must remain on the skin for 8
to 12 hours before it can be washed
off. After applying it, don't wash your
hands - scabies mites love the area
between the fingers! You may want to
apply the medication before your child
goes to bed, then wash it off in the
morning.
Shingles


Treatment with an antiviral can
reduce the severity of the nerve
damage and speed healing. If you
suspect you have shingles, see your
doctor within 72 hours of the first
sign of the rash.
While these treatments can reduce
the symptoms of shingles, they are
not a cure. The antivirals do
weaken the virus and its effects,
but the outbreak still tends to run
its course.
Strept Throat /
scarlet fever




Spread: Breathing in droplets from an infected person’s
coughs and sneezes. Touching your mouth or nose after
coming into contact with secretions.
Incubation:
symptoms.
2-5 days from exposure to onset of
Contagious:
begins.
Until 24 hours after antibiotic treatment
Exclusion:
Until 24 hour after antibiotic treatment
begins, and child is without fever for 24 hours.
Scarlet Fever
Thrush


Most infants naturally have the yeast candida
albican in their mouths. Because their
immune systems are not yet mature, the
amount of yeast in the mouth can overgrow
and lead to an infection. (Adults and older
kids who have weakened immune systems
because of an illness or something like
chemotherapy also can get oral thrush.)
Oral thrush usually occurs within the first 6
months of life, and a baby with the infection
will develop cracked skin in the corners of
the mouth, and whitish or yellowish patches
on the lips, tongue, or inside the cheeks.