Childhood diseases are no joke and can leave very serious consequences, especially if we are talking about very young children or people with weakened immune systems. Measles, for example, can lead to a collapse of immunity, and mumps to sterility and pancreatitis.
Measles can have devastating effects PHOTO The truth
Considered childhood diseases are chicken pox, measles, rubella, erythema infectiosum, roseola infantum and scarlet fever. All this is underestimated by a part of the population, seen as something natural or a good way of natural immunization of the child. In addition, there are Romanians who refuse to vaccinate their children with the free doses included in the national vaccination scheme, precisely to prevent contracting these viral diseases. Doctors say that this attitude and conception regarding childhood diseases is totally wrong. These diseases are actually very serious and can leave serious consequences, especially in very young children or those with a weakened immune system.
“Childhood diseases are extremely serious”
Epidemiologist Irina Alecu, from the Botoșani Health Directorate, says that these childhood diseases can have a very serious evolution for the human body. That is precisely why the decision was made to invent vaccines for immunization and the prevention of possible sequelae. Some very serious. “Childhood diseases are extremely serious, and that is why medicine in the last hundred years has fought intensely to produce vaccine preparations that prevent such diseases. Precisely because their effects were serious. We have all heard of the great epidemics of whooping cough, poliomyelitis, diphtheria, which decimated whole populations of children or left extremely serious sequelae. We all know what polio can do. Diphtheria is fatal if not treated early. As well as whooping cough which, through convulsions, causes a lack of oxygen to the brain and the child is left with lifelong sequelae“, says doctor Irina Alecu. And the diseases listed above are part of the vaccination schedule. The lack of vaccine, doctors say, exposes the body to illness and automatically to possible complications, especially in very young children.
The childhood disease that collapses the immune system
One of the worst childhood diseases is measles. It is also called measles and is caused by a virus. It can be easily prevented by vaccination. Without the vaccine, measles can have very serious complications. It is manifested by high fever, cough, runny nose and red eyes. After 3-5 days, the rash also appears on the skin. It can be fatal for small children. Complications of measles occur in 30% of cases and are serious. First, measles leads to a collapse of immunity. That’s why many children, about 6 out of 100 children, with measles get pneumonia. Others encephalitis, meningoencephalitis or even subacute sclerosing panencephalitis leading to brain degeneration. “Measles causes an immune wipe and immune regression of the body for several years. During that period, the child will contact everything that will circulate near him and automatically the body will crawl additionally through exhaustion.“, states Irina Alecu. In extreme cases, 7 cases in 1000, epilepsy may occur.
Sterility and pancreatitis
Another childhood disease with possible lifelong sequelae is mumps. This is caused by the Urlian virus. At first it looks like a cold. Headache, fever or fatigue occur. It is later highlighted by inflammation of the salivary glands, with jaw pain. More specifically, 50% of boys and 25% of women can develop various associated complications if they are not vaccinated or have a weakened immune system. For boys older than 7 years and unvaccinated there is a risk of sterility. “Mumps if the boy gets it after the age of 6-7-8 years, without vaccination, really produces sterility. Because it has a tropism. And not just sterility, it can produce pancreatitis. Because we are talking about localization at the level of salivary, pancreatic or seminal glands. That is why sterility occurs“, says Irina Alecu. rubella,
Another childhood disease, which manifests itself with mild symptoms and rash, can cause sequelae under certain conditions or in certain categories of people. It is also caused by a virus and in some cases is asymptomatic. For most, rubella is a mild illness. But not for pregnant women in the first trimester. Because of this, rubella can have severe complications. It is estimated that about 90% of babies born to mothers who had rubella in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy will have congenital rubella syndrome. The consequences are serious, from deafness to problems in the development of organs including the heart.
