I’m so bothered with winter sicknesses especially that we were just new to this certain kind of season. My oldest son is feeling bad today and he is vomiting early in the morning and doesn’t want to eat. I was just glad that he can still manage to go to school and reach home this afternoon fine but still looks grumpy.
I made a research about winter sicknesses and the first that I have read was about gastroenteritis which is some kinda related with the symptoms my son experiencing.
Gastroenteritis in young children and babies occurs more often from about April each year and is often called winter gastro. It is an illness caused by the infection and inflammation of the digestive system, mostly by viral or bacterial infections, but also by bacterial toxins, parasites, some chemicals and some drugs.
Here in Australia the most common causes of gastroenteritis are viruses, often the rotavirus, and the most common bacterial gastroenteritis is Campylobacter infection. Infection occurs when the virus or bacterium enters your gut, usually by eating or drinking.
Gastroenteritis is very easily spread – an infected person can pass the bacteria to other people, or surfaces, by not wasing their hands properly. Oh my God, I hope my son is doing the washing in school. I always told them to do it often.
Good hygiene, including thorough washing of hands, is essential to protect yourself and other family members.
Generally, gastroenteritis is over within a few days. Typical symptoms include tummy cramps, diarrhoea and vomiting.
It’s important to see your doctor, however, as vomiting and diarrhoea can also be caused by many other problems such as food poisoning, infections in other parts of the body (such as pneumonia or ear infections) and appendicitis.
If you have gastro, you need to drink plenty of fluids. Drinks that contain a lot of sugar – such as soft drinks, cordial, sports drinks and fruit juice – are not suitable as they can make you sicker. The best way to replace lost fluids is with oral rehydration fluids. These drinks are available at chemist and have the right amounts of sugar, salt and water to be easily absorbed in the gut.
A person suffering from severe gastroenteritis may need fluids administered intravenously. Don’t take antivomiting or antidiarrhoea drugs bought from the chemist unless your doctor has recommended it, because these medicines will keep the infection inside your body.