Most Common Diseases in Children

Children often get a case of the sniffles, an upset stomach, or an occasional rash. Your child may seem to go from being healthy one minute to being miserable the next, thanks to a sudden case of hives or itchy eyes. Knowing what diseases are common among children will help to ensure your child receives proper treatment or preventive care.

Chickenpox

• Chickenpox is a blister-like rash that usually affects the scalp, face, and trunk first; it then gradually spreads to cover the entire body. The rash is generally preceded by a fever, which almost always persists for a few days. Caused by the varicella-zoster virus, chickenpox is spread by touching an infected person's skin or by inhaling droplets from their coughs or sneezes. Complications from chickenpox can include bacterial infection, brain swelling, and pneumonia. Although anyone can contract the disease, adolescents and adults are more susceptible to severe consequences stemming from it.

Pinkeye

• Pinkeye (conjunctivitis) is a highly contagious infection that causes inflammation and redness to the eyelid and conjunctiva, which are the thin mucous membranes covering the eye's surface. Symptoms of conjunctivitis include redness of the eye, itching and burning in the eye, photophobia (mild sensitivity to light), tearing and draining from the eye, and the sensation of a foreign object in the eye. In most cases, pinkeye is caused by dry eyes, viruses, bacteria, chemicals, smoke, fumes, and allergies. According to SutterHealth.org, an online resource maintained by the not-for-profit Sutter Health Network in northern California, your child should not go to school or daycare until their symptoms improve.

Respiratory Infections

• Children under the age of 12 usually catch several mild respiratory infections each year. Symptoms of upper respiratory infections include a runny or stuffy nose, irritability, restlessness, poor appetite, decreased activity level, coughing, and fever. Lower respiratory symptoms include shallow coughing, fever, rapid breathing, and wheezing. Many upper respiratory illnesses (such as influenza, cold, croup, and sore throats) are caused by viral infections and are usually treated at home with no medications. Lower respiratory infections caused by viruses, such as bronchitis, may have to be treated with antibiotics to prevent complications. Bacteria can also cause respiratory problems but are much less common. The main causes of respiratory infections are asthma and allergy flares.

Ear infections

• Ear infections are almost always isolated to the middle ear. Inflammation of the small tube connected from the ear to the throat causes this infection. If a child has a respiratory infection (such as a cold), the tube becomes inflamed, which then blocks fluid inside of the ear. Here, germs breed and spread to cause infection. Symptoms of an ear infection include earache, fever, or thick-yellow fluid coming from the ear. Your child may pull on his ear and have difficulty sleeping.

Asthma

• According to the National Institutes of Health lay website, MedlinePlus.gov, nearly 9,000,000 children in the United States have asthma. Asthma is a respiratory condition that causes swelling in the airways. Allergies, viral infections, tobacco smoke, exercise, gastroesophageal reflux disease (also known as GERD), and changes to weather usually trigger this swelling. Common asthma symptoms include trouble sleeping, coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, and chest congestion, although experts say that symptoms can vary from child to child.