A Simple Guide to Sinusitis

A Simple Guide to Sinusitis
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What is sinusitis?
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Sinusitis is a condition in which the lining of your sinuses becomes inflamed.

The sinuses are the air chambers in the bone behind your cheeks, eyebrows and jaw.
They produce mucus, a fluid that cleans bacteria and other particles out of the air you breathe. Tiny hairs called cilia sweep mucus out of your sinuses so it can drain out through your nose.
The paranasal sinuses are in direct communication with the nose.
The sinuses are normally sterile.

If the sinus openings may become blocked, the mucus becomes congested in the sinuses, resulting in stagnation of secretion and finally bacterial growth.

What causes sinusitis?
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Anything that causes swelling in your sinuses or keeps the cilia from moving mucus can cause sinusitis.
This can occur because of changes in temperature or air pressure,
Using decongestant nasal sprays too much,
Smoking, and
Swimming or diving.
Some people have growths called polyps that block their sinus passages.
When sinusitis is caused by a bacterial or viral infection, you get a sinus infection.

Sinus infections sometimes occur after you've had a cold.
The cold virus attacks the lining of your sinuses, causing them to swell and become narrow.
Your body responds to the virus by producing more mucus, but it gets blocked in your swollen sinuses.
This built-up mucus makes a good place for bacteria to grow.
The bacteria can cause a sinus infection.

Acute sinusitis is usually bacterial in origin.
Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae are the organisms most commonly found in adults.
In children, similar organisms are seen, with the addition of Moraxella catarrhalis.
In older children and young adults, Staphylococcus aureus is an occasional finding.
In systemically impaired hosts, Candida, Aspergillus, and Phycomycetes may be the cause.

Risk factors include the following: diabetes mellitus, cancer, hepatic disease, renal failure, burns, extreme malnutrition, and immunosuppressive diseases.

What are the signs of acute sinusitis?
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Presentation of sinusitis is often nonspecific.

Patients may present with a persistent cold.
A cold that starts to get better and then gets worse may be a sign of acute sinusitis.

Pain or pressure in some areas of the face (forehead, cheeks or between the eyes) is often a sign of blocked sinus drainage and can be a sign of acute sinusitis.

Pain in your forehead that starts when you lean forward can also be a sign.

Other symptoms may include a stuffy nose.

Some patients complain of dental pain or alteration in smell.

Fever is seen in fewer than 2% of individuals with sinusitis.

Facial tenderness to palpation is present.

Complete opacification of sinus on transillumination is present.

An X-ray of the paranasal sinuses usually confirms the presence of sinusitis as opacity in the sinuses.

How is acute sinusitis treated?
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Your doctor may prescribe an antibiotic.
You may take an antibiotic for 10 to 14 days, but you will usually start feeling better a couple of days after you start taking it. It is important to take this medicine exactly as your doctor tells you and to continue taking it until it is gone, even after you're feeling better.

If you have sinus pain or pressure, your doctor may prescribe or recommend a decongestant to help your sinuses drain.

Painkillers may be prescribed if there is severe pain.

How to take care of sinusitis?
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1.Get plenty of rest.

2.Lying down can make your sinuses feel more congested, so try lying on the side that lets you breathe the best.

3.Drink plenty of fluids.

4.Apply moist heat by holding a warm, wet towel against your face or breathing in steam through a cloth or towel.

5.Rinse your sinus passages with a saline solution.

How is chronic sinusitis treated?
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In cases where the acute sinus infection does not cleared or become chronic, a sinus washout may be necessary to remove the mucus stucked in the sinuses.

This involves syringing of antiseptic solution through a hole in the septum separating the maxillary sinuses from the nose.
Sometimes syringing of frontal sinuses can be done through a tube inserted into the sinuses.

In severe case of chronic sinusitis, endoscopy surgery may be done to strip the lining of the maxillary sinuses and clean the cavity of the sinuses.

A new therapy is the use of phage therapy where bacterial viruses are used to cause bacterila lysis in the sinuses.

A Simple Guide to Gastroenteritis

A Simple Guide to Gastroenteritis
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What is Gastroenteritis?
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Gastroenteritis is an inflammation of the lining of the intestines caused by a virus, bacteria or parasites resulting in leakage of fluid from the cell into the intestine(diarrhea),abdominal pain and vomiting.

What are the causes of Gastroenteritis?
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Viral Gastroenteritis:
The most common cause of Gastroenteritis is Viral.

Rota virus is the leading cause among children 3 to 15 months old and the most common cause of diarrhea in children under the age of 5 years.

Adenovirus occurs mainly in children under the age of 2 years.

Caliciviruses especially the norovirus cause infection in people of all ages.

Astrovirus also infects primarily infants, young children, and the elderly.

Bacterial Gastroenteritis:
The most common cause is the E. coli bacteria, usually mild with diarrhea, abdominal pain and occasional vomiting. It rarely cause fever.

Salmonella, Shigella ,Vibrio cholerae, are more serious bacterial infection causing diarrhea and high fever.

Parasitic Gastroenteritis:
Most common is amoebic dysentery,common in India and Africa.
Other parasitic infection are giardiasis and threadworms.

What are symptoms of Gastroenteritis?
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The main symptoms of gastroenteritis are
1. watery diarrhea
2. abdominal pain
3. vomiting
4. headache
5. fever.
6.loss of appetite and energy

Symptoms usually appear within 4 to 48 hours after exposure to the germ and last for 1 to 2 days, though symptoms can last as long as 10 days.

How is Gastroenteritis transmitted?
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Gastroenteritis can be highly contagious. The germs are commonly transmitted by people with unwashed hands.
People can get the germs through close contact with infected individuals by sharing their food, drink, or eating utensils, or by eating food or drinking beverages that are contaminated with the germs.
Noroviruses in particular, are typically spread to other people by contact with stool or vomit of infected people and through contaminated water or food—especially oysters, prawns, crabs, lobsters, cockleshells from contaminated breeding waters.

How is the diagnosis of Gastroenteritis made?
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Doctors generally diagnose gastroenteritis based on the symptoms and a physical examination. Your doctor may ask for a stool sample to test for rotavirus or to rule out bacteria or parasites as the cause of your symptoms.

How is Gastroenteritis treated?
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Most cases of viral gastroenteritis resolve without specific treatment.
Antibiotics are not effective against viral infections.

The primary goal of treatment is to reduce the symptoms which may include an antispasmodic drug to stop abdominal cramps, medicine to harden the stools such as kaolin and slow down the intestinal movement (lomotil or loperamide).

Prompt treatment may be needed to prevent dehydration which is the loss of fluids from the body. Important salts or minerals, known as electrolytes, can also be lost with the fluids. Dehydration can be caused by diarrhea, vomiting, excessive urination, excessive sweating, or by not drinking enough fluids because of nausea, difficulty swallowing, or loss of appetite.

The symptoms of dehydration are
excessive thirst
dry mouth
little or no urine or dark yellow urine
sunken eyes
severe weakness or lethargy
dizziness or lightheadedness

Mild dehydration can be treated by drinking liquids.
Severe dehydration may require intravenous fluids and hospitalization.
Untreated severe dehydration can be life threatening especially in babies, young children and the elderly.

The following steps may help relieve the symptoms of gastroenteritis.
1.Allow your gastrointestinal tract to settle by not eating for a few hours.
2.Sip small amounts of clear liquids or suck on ice chips if vomiting is still a problem.
3.Give infants and children oral rehydration solutions to replace fluids and lost electrolytes. 4.Gradually reintroduce food, starting with bland, easy-to-digest food, like porridge or soups.
5.Avoid dairy products, caffeine, and alcohol until recovery is complete.
6.Get plenty of rest.

How is Gastroenteritis prevented?
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You can avoid infection by:
1.washing your hands thoroughly for 20 seconds after using the bathroom or changing diapers
2.washing your hands thoroughly for 20 seconds before eating
3.disinfecting contaminated surfaces such as counter tops and baby changing stations
4.Avoid eating or drinking foods or liquids that might be contaminated

A Simple Guide to Chickenpox

A Simple Guide to Chickenpox
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What is Chickenpox?
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Chickenpox is a mild illness common among children but can occur at any age.
A fever appears followed by an itchy rash of spots that look like blisters all over the body on the second or third day and may be accompanied by flu-like symptoms.

What causes Chickenpox?
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Chickenpox is caused by the varicella-zoster virus.

What are the Symptoms of Chickenpox?
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Chickenpox usually starts with a mild fever of 37.7 - 38.8 Celsus with or without headache.

It is followed by a red, itchy rash on the skin that usually appears first on the abdomen or back and face, and then spreads to almost everywhere else on the body.
The rash begins as multiple small, red bumps and rapidly develop into thin-walled blisters filled with clear fluid, which becomes cloudy. The blister wall breaks, leaving open sores, which finally crust over to become dry, brown scabs.

Chickenpox blisters can also occur in the mouth causing pain and discomfort when eating.

Some children have abdominal pain, sore throat, headache,and in some cases a severe cough.

Younger children often have milder symptoms and fewer blisters than older children or adults.

When is Chickenpox contagious?
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Chickenpox is contagious from about 2 days before the rash appears and lasts until all the blisters are crusted over.
A child with chickenpox should be kept out of school until all blisters have dried, usually about 10 days.
Chickenpox is very contagious — most kids with a sibling who's been infected will get it as well, showing symptoms about 2 weeks after the first child does.
To help keep the virus from spreading, make sure your children wash their hands frequently, particularly before eating and after using the bathroom.
And keep a child with chickenpox away from unvaccinated siblings as much as possible.

Pregnant women and anyone with immune system problems should not be near a person with chickenpox. If a pregnant woman who hasn't had chickenpox in the past contracts it (especially in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy), the fetus is at risk for birth defects. If she develops chickenpox just before or after the child is born, the newborn is at risk for serious health complications.

How to avoid getting Chickenpox?
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Since May 2006, after FDA approval of the vaccine, Doctors recommend that kids receive the chickenpox vaccine when they are 12 to 15 months old and a booster shot at 4 to 6 years old. The vaccine is about 70% to 85% effective at preventing mild infection, and more than 95% effective in preventing moderate to severe forms of the infection.
Healthy children who have had chickenpox do not need the vaccine — they usually have lifelong protection against the illness.

How to treat Chickenpox?
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Treatment of Virus:A virus causes chickenpox, so the doctor won't prescribe antibiotics. However, antibiotics may be required if the sores become infected by bacteria.

The antiviral medicine acyclovir may be prescribed for people with chickenpox who are at risk for complications. The drug, which can make the infection less severe, must be given within the first 24 hours after the rash appears.

Treatment of Symptoms:You can help relieve the itchiness, fever, and discomfort of chickenpox by:

1.Using cool wet compresses or giving baths in cool or lukewarm water every 3 to 4 hours for the first few days.

2.Patting (not rubbing) the body dry.

3.Putting calamine lotion on itchy areas or acyclovir cream lightly over the rashes

4.Giving your child foods that are soft and bland because chickenpox in the mouth may make drinking or eating difficult.

5.Make the child drink lots of fluids

6. Anti itch medicine like antihistamine or pain relieving medicine like paracetamol may be given to relieve itch or pain.

7.As much as possible, discourage scratching. This can be difficult for the child, so consider putting mittens or socks on your child's hands to prevent scratching during sleep. In addition, trim fingernails and keep them clean to help lessen the effects of scratching, including broken blisters and infection.

What are the complications of Chickenpox?
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Typically, chickenpox is a mild illness, but can affect some infants, teens, adults, and people with weak immune systems more severely.
Some people can develop serious bacterial infections involving the skin(especially in children with eczema), lungs(pneumonia) and the brain (encephalitis).

What is the outlook for Chickenpox?
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Most children recovered completely from chickenpox within 7-14 days of the onset of symptoms.
Adults may take a longer time to recover(10-21 days) and the symptoms are more severe.
Pox marks due to infections of the skin and deep scratching of blisters may remain and serve as a reminder of chickenpox.

A person usually has only one episode of chickenpox, but the virus can lie dormant within the body and cause a different type of skin eruption later in life called shingles (or herpes zoster).