Contents of the Handbook on Prevention of Common Diseases in Children

The core of this practical version of the common childhood disease prevention manual is a summary of the six most common childhood problems (upper respiratory tract infections, infectious diarrhea, allergic rhinitis, febrile convulsions, hand, foot and mouth disease, and childhood myopia) that have been treated in pediatric clinics for 12 years. There are no empty theories. It is all practical content that "can be followed directly and avoid 90% of common nursing pitfalls." It also takes into account the different perspectives of evidence-based medicine and traditional nursing. Parents can choose flexibly according to their children's constitution.

Last Wednesday, I met a mother in the outpatient clinic who came in with her 3-year-old baby. As soon as she entered the door, she said, "Doctor, my baby has a cold on the third day. I gave him cephalosporins, fentanyl, and cough syrup. Why does he still have a fever?" ”After asking, I found out that the baby didn’t even have a routine blood test, and that the runny nose was obviously a viral infection. Cephalosporin was completely useless, and it also affected the baby’s appetite. This is also the reason why "mistake avoidance pitfalls" are placed at the front in the manual: many parents either don't care about their children, but step into pitfalls they don't know about, and the more they take care of their children, the worse they get.

Take children's cold medicines as an example. Evidence-based medicine clearly states that children under 6 years old are not recommended to use compound cold medicines to avoid liver and kidney damage. Even if the fever is high, acetaminophen or ibuprofen should only be used when the temperature is above 38.5°C (or when the child is depressed).； However, many experienced TCM pediatricians also recommend that when you have runny nose or yawning in the early stages of a cold or cold, soaking your feet with scallion white water or perilla water can also relieve the symptoms without forcing it. We have included both of these options in the manual. No one is right or wrong. They can be used as long as the baby is comfortable and does not aggravate the symptoms.

When many parents encounter their children with diarrhea, their first reaction is "just starve for two meals." Last year, there was a 2-year-old baby in our community. After two days of diarrhea, his parents only fed him white porridge. In the end, the baby's eye sockets were sunken, and he was sent to the emergency room for dehydration. The manual specifically states that the most important thing for diarrhea is not to stop diarrhea, but to replenish water and electrolytes. The first recommendation from WHO is oral rehydration salt III. Follow the instructions to mix a small amount and feed it multiple times. Of course, there is also a lot of controversy here: Many parents think that when they cannot buy rehydration salts, can they use homemade sugar saline? Evidence-based people believe that it is difficult to get the right ratio of homemade sugar to salt, and incorrect osmotic pressure will aggravate dehydration. ； But most of the veteran doctors at the grassroots level will teach you that in an emergency, use half a beer bottle cap of table salt + 4 ordinary mineral water bottle caps of white sugar, mixed with 1 liter of warm boiled water. It is no problem for temporary use. We have also written this part exactly, and you can choose according to the situation.

Nowadays, there are so many children with allergic rhinitis. Many parents come to ask, "My child rubs and picks his nose every day and sneezes when he wakes up in the morning. Is it bad to catch a cold?" ”My own child suffered from it when he was 3 years old. At first, I followed the trend and bought an electric neti washer. The baby cried heartbrokenly and couldn't wash it in. Later, I asked my ENT colleagues and found out that children under 3 years old do not need to be washed at all. I buy saline spray and spray it 2 times into each nostril. It will be fine if the child blows it out or swallows it. The effect is just as good. The manual also deliberately includes care methods for different age groups, so there is no need to rely on the "standard answers" found online.

When it comes to the most panic-inducing situations for parents, febrile convulsions definitely rank high on the list. Many people’s first reaction is, “Will my baby go crazy if he has a fever?” ”In the past, the old saying was to pinch the baby's philtrum and put a towel in the mouth to prevent biting the tongue. Now the evidence-based view is not to stuff anything, and there is no need to pinch. Lay the baby on its side on a flat place, untie the collar, and stare until the convulsion passes. Most of the seizures will stop on their own within 5 minutes. However, many senior directors who have been practicing medicine for decades said that clinical cases have indeed been encountered in which the duration of convulsions is shortened after pinching the child. We do not directly deny this part. We only suggest that if novice parents do not know how to pinch, they should lie down on their sides and wait. Don't do it randomly and choke the baby.

The recent transition from spring to summer has been a period of high incidence of hand, foot and mouth disease. Don't just believe what is said on the Internet: "Hand foot and mouth disease only causes rashes on the hands and feet." Many children first develop herpes in their throats and only discover it when they complain of pain after eating. The manual specifically mentions that hand, foot and mouth virus is not sensitive to alcohol. Don't touch the slides or escalators when going out. Just rub it twice with no-rinse gel and wash it with running water and soap for 20 seconds. Only then can you really put on a layer of protective clothing for your baby's little hands.

Nowadays, children take online classes and watch tablets every day, and many kindergartens wear glasses. I followed up a child before. Both his parents had high myopia of over 600 degrees. I originally thought that the child would not be able to escape. However, the parents took the child downstairs to play for 2 hours every day. Now that he is in second grade, his visual acuity is still 5.0. There has been controversy in the academic community regarding the influencing factors of childhood myopia: some studies say that genetics accounts for more than 60%, and some say that more than 2 hours of outdoor natural light exposure per day can offset 80% of the genetic risk. We have also included the results of both studies. No matter what the genetics is, it is always right to take your children out for more runs.

Oh, by the way, there is also a "Medical Signal Comparison Table" attached at the end of the manual. It is clearly listed in which cases you should observe at home and in which cases you should go to the hospital immediately. After all, every baby's body is different, and this manual is not an edict. When you are really in doubt, don't blindly compare it with online posts. It's better to consult a pediatrician in a regular hospital.