Children worst affected by chilly winds and erratic temperature

With the starting of the second fortnight of December, the phenomena of erratic temperature behaviour-remaining at around 25 degree Celsius during day time and dipping to around 7.0 degree Celsius in the night-is causing increase in cases of different ailments in children who are suffering with cold, cough, flu or the sore throat, Pneumonia, Diarrhoea etc.

Although all the private doctors of the city are witnessing heavy rush in their private clinics, things are no different at different government hospitals including Children hospital, SRN, Beli, Kalvin etc which are witnessing a sudden spurt in number of OPD patients mainly those suffering with Viral fever, Asthma or its related symptoms, cough and cold, Diarrhoea etc.

"As there has been high fluctuation in the day and night temperatures during this part of the year, this is causing it to be hot in the day and chilly during the night. These temperatures provide an ideal environment for the growth and spread of viruses and bacteria, which is the common cause for various ailments", said Dr PC Mishra, noted Pediatrician and head S N Children Hospital of MLN Medical College of the city.

He said that as the winter approaches, the days get shorter and nights longer that results in lesser exposure to sunlight that gets blocked due to the smog (in big cities like Lucknow) or fog (which would soon be coming). "This lack of sunlight weakens our body immune system thereby making it a suitable environment for the viruses to survive in the body much longer than they can during the summers when the temperatures are much higher", he added.

Winter ailments like the cold, cough, congestion, flu, and sore throat are very common and most people, including children of all ages, suffer from one or all of these as the season changes. It is particularly common to find small children sneezing or sniffling with a running nose, having fever with sore throat and or chest congestion with a blocked nose that makes it difficult to sleep at night, informed former head of the department of Medicines MLN Medical College, Dr S K Shukla,. The cold winter also brings with it different kinds of allergies and a problem of dry and itchy skin and people suffering from asthma may find their symptoms getting aggravated more during the winters, he added.

There is a popular saying that prevention is better than a cure and this is what which implies when it comes take care of children. There are many ways in which one can prevent the onset of these symptoms foremost of which is to protect immune system by eating healthy, resting properly and also doing some exercise that will help keep your body fit. Also try to get some exposure to sunlight during the day, added Shukla.

As the temperatures fluctuate between the day and night, make sure that your kid wear appropriate clothes to suit them as it gets chilly at night, it would be sensible on your part to cover them adequately to keep warm, suggests Dr Mishra. Make sure that your children are warm during the night; in particular, keep their chest, head, ears and hands warm and covered. You may need to regulate the fans or air conditioners at night, depending on the dip in temperatures. Make sure that your children do not sleep directly below the fans or next to the air conditioners, he added.

Good nutrition plays a very important role in strengthening the immunity of our body. Therefore, we need to supplement our food with lots of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that are vital to boost the body defense mechanism in order to fight the viruses and bacteria. Vitamin C in particular, is known to be very effective in fighting germs and also to help prevent a cold and which can be found in green leafy vegetables, berries, citrus fruits (oranges, lemons), guavas, tomatoes, melons, papayas etc, suggested the Associate Professor at department of Biochemistry of Allahabad University, Dr S I Rizvi.

Similarly, Dr V B Singh said that the cold winter causes the skin to get dry, flaky and itchy and the best solution to that is to remember to drink plenty of water. We tend to drink lesser water in the winter that causes dehydration and is the reason for dry nose, lips and mouth. Make it a point to drink plenty of warm water throughout the day, or indulge yourself in hot soups of all kinds; tomato soup, spinach soup, clear chicken soup, vegetable soup etc.

Likewise, head of the department skin, MLN Medical College, Dr KG Singh, said that for dry skin, moisturize it with appropriate creams or body lotions that suit the skin of loved one.

The most effective way is to apply oil (natural oils like Jojoba and Coconut Oils) all over child's body.

This will soothe the skin and allow it to absorb the essential oils that normally get washed away when we have hot or warm water baths, the best being using luke warm water to have a bath and use mild soaps in order to retain your natural skin oil as much as possible. Remember to use a chap stick to keep your lips moistened and to prevent them from cracking and bleeding.