Knowledge on preventing common diseases in children

The core of prevention of common children's diseases has never relied on extreme operations such as "comprehensive disinfection, eliminating all cold and cold diseases, and taking preventive medicine when the season changes." Instead, it focuses on the three core directions of immune exercise, individualized daily care, and standardized vaccination to avoid over-protection and flexibly adjust the plan according to the child's age and physique. There is no unified standard suitable for all children.

Don't tell me, in the seven or eight years I have been working as a child care provider, the most common examples I have seen are cases of "over-protection raising glass babies." A while ago, a mother brought her 3-year-old boy for a physical check-up. She said that the boy had a fever on average once a month, either due to bronchitis or gastroenteritis. After asking her carefully, she found out that whenever someone in her family goes out, they have to change into a full set of clothes and spray alcohol when they come back. The baby's toys must be boiled every day, and the slide in the downstairs community is never allowed to be touched, saying it is "dirty and contains bacteria." I asked her to put away the disinfectant spray at home first, and take the baby downstairs to play for an hour every day. After touching something, don’t always use disposable gel to wipe it. Just go to a public toilet and wash it with running water and soap. You don’t need to cook the toys every day, just flush them when they are dirty. She came back for a follow-up visit last month and said that her baby had a runny nose once in the past two months and that he would be fine without taking any medicine.

Of course, we have to make it clear here. We are not letting everyone deliberately expose their children to germs. There are currently two mainstream views on children's health protection: one group advocates strict disinfection to reduce exposure to germs, especially for children who are premature, have congenital immune deficiencies, and have a history of severe allergies. This kind of protection can indeed significantly reduce the risk of infection.； The other group supports the "hygiene hypothesis", which believes that healthy full-term children's appropriate exposure to common microorganisms in the environment can stimulate the development of the immune system and reduce the probability of subsequent allergies and autoimmune diseases. Both statements are supported by clinical data. There is no absolute right or wrong. The key is to look at your baby's physique and don't stick to a certain standard.

One of the questions parents have asked me most before is: “Will my child catch a cold if he’s cold? ”Many old people wrap their babies up like little rice dumplings when the seasons change. The last time I met a grandma who took her baby to cool down the fever in autumn, the sweat on the baby's back soaked the autumn clothes. The grandma was still saying, "I missed wearing a vest in the morning, so I must be freezing." In fact, colds and fevers are mostly caused by viral infections. Catching a cold will only temporarily reduce immunity and give the virus an opportunity to take advantage of it. It is not the cause at all. To judge whether the baby is cold, don't touch the little hands and feet. The baby's peripheral circulation is already poor. It's normal for the hands and feet to be cold. Touch the back of the neck. If it's warm, it means you're wearing just the right amount. If it's sticky and sweaty, it means you're wearing too much.

When it comes to "spring covers and autumn freezes", some parents say it's an old feudal tradition and they rush to add clothes to their babies as soon as the temperature drops. Some parents insist on keeping their babies cold, even wearing single pants when the temperature drops to several degrees below zero. In fact, this statement really makes sense, but the score: Don’t rush to put on thick down jackets when the temperature drops in autumn. Let your child’s body slowly adapt to the temperature changes, which can enhance the tolerance to low temperatures. ； But if it’s already minus ten degrees in the depth of winter, or the baby is weak and prone to coughing, don’t bear the “autumn freeze” and just wear what you need.

Vaccines are a misunderstanding among many parents. They always think that the first type of vaccines must be taken, and the second type of vaccines is the "IQ tax". I have met several children with severe hand, foot and mouth disease in the fever clinic before. Their parents all said, "I didn't know there was a vaccine and thought hand, foot and mouth disease was just a minor disease." In fact, the EV71 vaccine prevents the EV71 virus subtype that accounts for more than 90% of severe cases of hand, foot and mouth. Although it cannot guarantee that hand, foot and mouth will be completely eliminated after vaccination, it can significantly reduce the risk of severe illness and death, and is very cost-effective. Some parents are worried about the side effects of vaccines. In fact, all children's vaccines approved for marketing have gone through multiple phases of clinical trials and are safe. Occasional low-grade fever, redness and swelling at the vaccination site, and fatigue are all normal immune reactions. They usually subside on their own in two or three days. If your child has allergies or underlying diseases, make it clear to the vaccination doctor in advance, and there will be no problem before vaccination after evaluation.

There are also some small details that many people may not believe if you tell them: for example, you don’t have to let the baby touch cold things at all. In summer, room temperature watermelon and yogurt that have been refrigerated for 10 minutes can be eaten with confidence as long as the baby doesn’t have diarrhea or cough before. My baby is now When I was 4 years old, I ate half a box of iced yogurt every day in the summer. I never had a stomachache because of this. On the contrary, I would easily develop a fever every time I ate too many cream cakes and braised pork. This is due to individual differences. Don’t believe the unified rule on the Internet that “under 6 years old cannot eat cold food.” Also, don’t just give your children “antiviral oral liquid” and “Isatis root” to prevent colds. These drugs have no clear effect in preventing colds, but may increase the child’s metabolic burden.

In fact, in the final analysis, you don’t need to be too anxious about raising a baby, and you don’t need to copy other people’s experiences. Only you know best what your baby’s physique is like. It is more reliable to observe what he eats and how much he wears, rather than following various “prevention guidelines” on the Internet. After all, every child has his or her own temperament.