Podcasts

How To Spot Some Other Common Classroom Illnesses

In last week's medical consultation, Dr Ray Walley discussed some common classroom illnesses that parents should watch out for. We continued the series this week by looking at mumps, measles whooping cough and threadworms. Mumps/Measles GPs started seeing a reduction in MMR vaccinations 20 years ago, which has led to increased cases of measles and mumps. There were 1,600 cases of mumps recorded this year. Mumps is a highly infectious virus which usually happens in secondary schools and colleges. There are no symptoms for the first few days, but when they appear, they include swelling of the face, severe fever, headache, aching limbs and muscles, and loss of appetite. There can be dangerous complications such as meningitis, pancreatitis or infertility in boys due to swelling of the testes. If your child has mumps, they should stay off school for five days after swelling appears. In measles cases, they should stay off for four days after the appearance of the rash. Whooping Cough As well as the cough itself, other symptoms of whooping cough include sore throat, fever and aching limbs. It is an infectious illness which requires treatment with antibiotics, and discomfort can also be treated with painkillers. Threadworms These are millimeter-sized worms which are found around the anus. They infect the gut and lay eggs, and can cause severe abdominal pain. Threadworms need to be treated with anti-threadworm medication, which may need to be repeated as the eggs can often come back. Listen to the interview in full by pressing the play button on this page. see more