Rodrigo Peruzzo
On this Children’s Day, as always, nothing is more important than the health of your children. that’s why, now this day Pediatrician and child naumonologist Federico Gini Cambaceres was consulted to explain which diseases affect Gualeguaychu children the most and what older adults should be aware of to protect them.
“The diseases affecting children are the same as usual and the treatments are the same, obviously there are some small changes or advances due to ongoing research, progress is being made on vaccines, there are 20 vaccines in Argentina. In your children’s calendar, this can protect them. And then there is more information about diseases that have always affected them, such as diabetes, asthma or other problems, which are now either treated or have greatly improved the survival rate of children from these diseases,” the expert began to elaborate .
Turning to the most specific issue, Geni Cambaceres noted that “this year there has been a rebound effect of infections, known as the ‘repayment of the immune debt’. There are few infections, so this year our peak of bronchiolitis is higher and earlier than in previous years, but it is still the same as always. With pneumonia, the difference is not as important as in bronchiolitis, for example, something comes up: we compare We usually see strep earlier and at one point there was talk of invasive infection which is when strep invades an organ through the bloodstream and there were two or three fatal cases in the province of Entre Ríos that apparently caused people attention, but did not go any further. Streptococci remained susceptible to penicillin and were treated in the same way,” he explained.
The professional then commented: “In my specialty pulmonology, the greatest increase was in bronchial asthma. If there were different hypotheses, there was no clear explanation: there was a more comfortable lifestyle, greater use of air conditioning, synthetic materials and other things that make them more exposed to allergens and dust”, adding that “problem cigarettes are always a problem and exacerbate asthma problems before pregnancy or in the first few years of life”.
Likewise, he points out, “Childhood obesity also worsens over time, and it greatly affects asthma, tripling the chances of developing severe asthma. We have an obesity epidemic all over the world, and Argentina cannot Get away with this., this obesity is caused by different eating habits, more manufactured and industrialized products, less homemade food, and less physical activity. Less and less physical activity, computers and equipment more, so we have more obese children than before, which causes high blood pressure to come on earlier than before, leads to more and earlier cases of diabetes than before, and affects other diseases such as sleep apnea, asthma and other diseases”, Gini Cambaceres explains.
Effects of ‘crazy’ weather on childhood
In one day, you can transition from warm mornings to chilly afternoons in Gualeguaychu without worry. We experience hot days followed by cold days in winter, which means hearing the typical Entre Ríos phrase “this weather is crazy” more and more. But importantly, how does this affect boys and girls?
“What happens to the season when we live with temperatures of 0 to 10 degrees in one day and 18 to 30 degrees in the same week, these huge changes make people’s mucous membranes, eyes, nose, mouth dry , throat, respiratory tract, most likely to cause irritation symptoms, dry eyes, itching, nose also, irritating cough, dysphonia, vocal cord involvement, laryngitis, bronchospasm, increased mucus secretion, which may cause bronchospasm and some respiratory infections increase”, Gini Cambaceres lists.
Plus, he says “overuse of heating and air conditioning in the car or at home obviously exacerbates all of this.”
In conclusion, he argues that “climate change brings a lot of changes, with effects on drought, fires, water scarcity, and of course health. Water- and food-borne diseases have further increased, such as hepatitis, diarrhea, and cholera.
“Vector-borne infections are higher in number, whether mosquito-borne, such as dengue, yellow fever, or rodent-borne, such as leptospirosis, hantavirus and others,” he added. Nutrients in the obesity and malnutrition epidemic, we have two extremes: malnourished children (which is what we call child malnutrition) and obese children, whose calories are of poorer quality. Potatoes and rice, potatoes and flour…they receive empty calories, no protein of high biological value, no important micronutrients such as iron, iodine and magnesium. ’ concluded the professional.