Common Childhood Illnesses Flashcards
General appearance of feverish child
Sloppy
Sleepy
Irritable
Normal RR and HR for:
Neonate
RR: 60
HR: 160
Normal RR and HR for:
<1 yr old
RR: 35-45
HR: 110-160
Normal RR and HR for:
5-12 yr old
RR: 20-25
HR: 80-120
Normal RR and HR for:
12+ year old
Adult range
Normal RR and HR for:
1-5 yr old
RR: 25-35
HR: 95-140
Approach to assessing child for fever
- General appearance
- Happy, smiling child versus floppy, irritable, sleepy child - Vital signs – Heart Rate (HR), Respiratory Rate (RR), Capillary Refill Time (CRT), temperature
- Look for fever source – ENT examination, Chest examination
- Assess for rashes
- Red? (erythema)
- Disappears on pressure? (Blanching, non-blanching)
- Flat (Macule) or Raised (papule)
- Raised with fluid (vesicle) or raised with pus (pustule) - If no obvious fever source – consider testing for UTI
Macule vs papule?
Flat (Macule)
Raised (papule)
3 common childhood illnesses?
Infections
Rashes
Chronic conditions
5 infection types common in children
URTI LRTI Gastroenteritis UTI Meningitis
Features of upper and lower RTI in children
URTI **
- Most common
- ENT e.g. coryza, otitis media, pharyngitis, croup
- Mostly viral
LRTI
- E.g. Pneumonia and whooping cough
Most common URTIs in children
**mostly viral
Acute otitis media
- Ear pain and tenderness
Tonsillitis
- Sore throat, otalgia, headache and malaise
- Tonsils are visibly enlarged with pus from crypts.
- Pharyngeal mucosa in inflamed
Pharyngitis
- Dysphagia, erythematous pharyngeal and tonsillar mucosa, malaise
Croup
- Commonly 0-2yr old
- Inspiratory stridor* due to laryngeal oedema and thick secretions
- Barking cough*
- Hoarse voice, fever
- Worse at night
- Lasts up the 7 days, worst in first 2 days
Common infectious rashes in children
Chicken pox (varicella zoster virus)
Hand, foot and mouth (coxsackie virus)
Scarlet fever (group A beta haemolytic strepococci)
Impetigo (staph aureous or strep pyogenes)
Fifth disease/ Slapped cheek disease (erythrovirus type B19)
Ringworm (fungal: tinea corporis)
Eczema
Features of childhood chickenpox
Viral agent
Infectious period: 3 days before rash development and <6 days after first lesion appears
Location: Face, trunk and a lil on limbs
Progression: Macular (flat) lesions –> papular –> vesicular –> pustular. Peak at 48 hrs with intense itch
Virus: Varicella zoster
Features of hand foot and mouth
Viral agent
Duration: 7-10 days of symptoms
Prodrome: 1/2 days of sore throat, dyspagia, pyrexia, lost appetite, malaise
–> mouth lesions 1/2 days after fever + skin lesions on hand and feet
Coxsackie virus
Scarlet fever: infectious agent? How long? who? S/S?
infectious agent: Group A beta haemolytic streptococci
How long? 2-4 day incubation period (respiratory transmission)
Who? Most commonly 2-8 year olds
Typical symptoms/signs:
-High fever
- Headache, malaise, N/V
- Blanching maculopapular rash at torso –> whole body
- Enlarged red tonsils covered with a white exudate
-Furred tongue with enlarged papillae - “white strawberry tongue”
Impetigo:
Features?
Causative agent?
Presentation?
Features? Highly contagious infection
Causative agent? Staph aureus or strep pyogenes (or both)
Presentation?
- Macules/papules/pustules on face or extremities
- Classic honey coloured or golden
- Gummy crusts in a strep infection
Fifth disease / slapped cheek disease: Infectious agent? Who? Progression? Recurrence?
Infectious agent?
Erythrovirus type B19
Who?
School-aged children
Progression? Incubation for 13-18 days --> 4 day prodrome of mild fever and sore throat, coryza, headache, nausea --> Maculopapular on cheeks for 1-4 days --> Spread to extremities and trunk
Recurrence?
define catarrhal
Inflammation of a mucous membrane with increased production of mucus, esp affecting the nose and throat in the common cold. the mucus so formed.
Ringworm:
Fungal agent?
Progression?
Fungal agent: Tinea corporis
Progression:
Single or mnuultiple small and scaly patches in groin/axillae
–>enlargement or form into plaques with clear centre
–> Itchy and erythematous annular patches
Eczema:
Where?
Features?
Where?
Popliteal fossa and antecubital fossa
Features?
- Itch
- Erythema
- Oozing and wheeping
- crusting –> fissuring and scaling
- Risk of secondary infection due to itch
