Child Health Care - Worm Infestation

If you are one of the concerned parents of a child suffering from worm infestation and you don't want to administer all sorts of strong medicines to them, you can well relieve yourself. Ayurveda has some easy remedies that will help your child with getting rid of worms. Before knowing these simple Ayurvedic treatments, its good to know what types of worms can harm your child's health and in what condition these worms occur so that you may avoid their repeated occurrence.

Common Types of Worms

If you examine your child's stool and see long white or pinkish tiny thread like shapes, your doubt was right- your child has got worm infestation. The common types of worms include:

    Round worms (Ascaris): They are round, thin, white/pink worm about 10-20 inches long.

    Pinworms (Thread worms): They are white, small and thin, just like fine threads.

    Hookworms (Ankylostomes): They are tiny dark-pink in color, not visible in stools.

    Tape worms (Taniea saginata/solium): They are flat and extremely long about 2-3 meters.

There are many other types of worms that not only infest the children but also adults.

Causes for Worm Infestation

The main cause of worm infestation is malnutrition and bad hygiene

    Any human being get infection through fecal-oral route. If defecation is done in open fields, the eggs of worms from stools of infected humans and animals find the soil and grow there. Children playing in such contaminated soil can easily be infested by worms.

    Children who eat without washing their hands, transfer the harmful eggs, stuck to their nails, into their stomach where they become fully developed worms. These worms sticks to the lining of the intestines and suck blood leading to anemia and other symptoms of worm infestation. They can grow to the extent of obstructing intestines causing acute pain and landing the patient in an emergency seeking condition. Tiny thread worms come out of the anus in the night to lay eggs around, causing itching.

    Some worms called cysticercoids reach the stomach by eating contaminated pork or beef. They are even more dangerous as they can mix into the blood and reach brain, heart, liver etc and prove fatal.

    Unwashed hands and using others' towels, handkerchief etc. spread worm infestation.

    Eating unwashed raw vegetables and drinking contaminated water are yet other causes of worm infestation.

Once you know the reasons, you can prevent the disease but what if worms have already infested your child? Know how to cure worm conditions through simple Ayurvedic remedies by reading worm infestation.

The Role Of A Pediatric Nurse Practitioner In Child Health Care

If you are a registered nurse (RN) who enjoys working with children, then training to become a pediatric nurse practitioner could be the perfect career move.

Advanced training in pediatrics means that you will be qualified to provide specialized nursing care to infants, young children and adolescents. This includes nursing and healthcare such as physical examinations, diagnosing injuries and identifying common childhood illnesses.

As a pediatric nurse practitioner (NP) you are required to oversee laboratory and diagnostic tests including blood tests and x-rays for children. You'll be fully trained to perform immunization on children against common childhood diseases and provide counseling for children affected by juvenile diabetes and other common illnesses.

You'll also be called upon to offer advice and practical answers for common childhood complaints and development issues like toilet training, child temper tantrums, ear infections, head lice, biting issues, asthma, allergies, urinary infections, respiratory infections and the hundreds of other healthcare problems common among children. Along with the extremely serious childhood illnesses like leukemia and childhood cancer.

In your role as a specialized childcare nurse, you will be required to perform medical examinations of the child including such things as taking urine samples, taking their blood pressure, making requests for laboratory tests and checking that the child's heart and lungs are functioning properly.

One of the key requirements of a being childcare nurse is the ability to communicate clearly and confidently to children and their parents. It is often left up to the child's nurse to answer difficult questions, provide child healthcare education and child healthcare counseling to both young children and their families.

You will be required to meet with the families of young children to discuss their treatment and recovery. Fully understanding the child's medical condition is vitally important so you will be required to get their correct and proper medical information, medical records and healthcare history.

Today's pediatric nurse practitioner is required to perform under enormous pressure in

When you work in this field, you are dealing day-today with young and vulnerable patients. Children have special healthcare needs and often require specialized medical treatment. The role of the pediatric nurse practitioner is to provide them and their families with the right treatment and support so that their child quickly gets on the road to recovery.

The National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP), local hospitals or nursing schools are all places that you can get information from if you are interested in furthering your nursing career in this exciting field of medicine.

Child Health Care in Bangladesh

The biggest victims of a poverty stricken country are its children. Bangladesh has had a dismal track record when it has come to kids health. Most of the children in the country specially in the rural areas suffer from acute malnutrition. The problem gets aggravated as Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world with nearly 1,000 people per square kilometer. Although there has been considerable progress in the last 15 years the health of children in Bangladesh is being described as one of the severe in South Asia.

According to the latest UNICEF report the mortality rate in children under-five stands at an alarming 94 deaths per 1,000 live births. Malnutrition, pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, measles, injuries are contributing to the high rate of neonatal deaths in the country. Nearly one-half of all children below the age of five years are either underweight or stunted. The poor child health care facilities in the country means that most of these children are not vaccinated exposing them to the threats of life threatening diseases.

There is lack of awareness among women folk in the country concerning basic issues relating to kids health is another key reason resulting in the high mortality rate in children. Some of the areas where more attention need to be focused are:

1. Educating the women folk on the basics of child health care which includes things like importance of breast feeding. This is a very challenging affair considering the high level of illiteracy in the country.

2. Stressing on equal care for the girl child. The track record of Bangladesh on the girl child is not impressive like its South Asian neighbor India.

3. Making people specially the parents aware of the basic nutritional requirement of a child. Giving them proper break up of the food items required to attain those minimum levels of nutrition.

3. Awareness campaigns on the importance of vaccination for the children of all ages in the country.

4. Regular counseling to pregnant women regarding childbirth and advise them on the required nutritional level during their pregnancy.

5. Encourage women to give birth with assistance from trained health personnel and in a
health facility. In absence of a proper medical facility experienced midwives, or trained birth attendants should be present during the child birth.

The recent years have shown some improvement as far as child health care is concerned but Bangladesh has a long way to go to achieve the minimum nutritional and other health level in children.