What are the general terms of child’s illness?

Every disease has different symptoms and treatment. Before understanding disease one should be familiar with following terms:

1. Infection:

Introduction of pathogenic micro-organisms which are capable of multiplying and producing toxins results in spreading the disease. This is what we call infection.

2. Epidemic:

When the disease is more of less prevalent in a locality or a community at the same time it is known as epidemic.

3. Endemic:

The disease when spreads all over the community and persists for a longer duration, it is known as endemic like typhoid, amoebiasis etc.

4. Sporadic:

When the disease occurs at intervals but not affecting a sizeable number of persons, it is called sporadic.

5. Pandemic:

When the disease breaks out throughout the world and is affecting a very large number of the people all over the world, it is treated as Pandemic like Influenza in 1955 and cholera in 1962.

6. Incubation Period:

The period during which the germs enter the body and remain latent in the body till the symptoms appear is known as the incubation period.

7. Infective period communicability:

Duration of infective period starts with the appearance of the symptoms of the disease; in other words, the patient acquires the power of transferring micro-organism to a healthy person. The length of infective period depends on the disease and its intensity.

8. Vector:

The insect or worms, which spread the disease from a person who is suffering from some disease to a healthy person, is called Vector.

9. Carrier:

Living organisms, which harbor disease-producing microorganism of a specific infectious disease without showing any signs and symptoms of the disease. It is of four types:

(a) Incubatory Carrier:

A person is called an incubatory carrier if he spreads disease to a healthy person during incubation period.

(b) Contact Carrier:

Persons who come in contact with another person having infectious disease catch these microorganisms easily and thus become temporary carriers.

(c) Convalescent Carrier:

Persons, who continue to spread disease while recovering, are called convalescent carriers.

(d) Chronic Carrier:

Persons who harbour micro-organisms for a long time after recovering are called Chronic Carriers.