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Thursday, June 3, 2010

Public Health: 7 Nasty Germs That Could Land Your Kid in the Hospital—and How to Avoid Them

Via US News :

" Nowadays it's much rarer for young children to be hospitalized for severe infections than it was even a decade ago. Still, almost 2.5 million infants are admitted to the hospital each year due to infections, and if children up to age 5 are included, the number of infection-caused hospitalizations soars to 4.5 million annually, according to a recent report in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Luckily, most serious infections are preventable, experts say. Vaccines have helped to dramatically reduce the numbers. Simpler measures, such as soap and water, are also tremendously effective at removing even scary bugs like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. To protect your child from a surprise hospital stay, watch out for the pathogens most often responsible for pediatric admissions"

It's a long report but it goes on to name the different viruses, namely Rotavirus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, H1N1, RSV, MRSA, Neisseria meningitidis, Pertussis and how to avoid them.

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