Infections

Infections are a very common occurrence these days. Practically nobody starting right from children to old people is safe from them. Our personal hygiene and living conditions contribute a lot as far as safety from infections is concerned.

Bacteria are the culprits: It's a matter of common experience that common cold spreads like wild fire. The main culprits in this regard are the Staphylococcus bacteria. These are present on our skin and in the nose in huge quantities. Not only common cold but various other infections like pimples and boils are the result of their activity only. Prescriptions as well as over the counter drugs don't help much in this regard. There are numerous kinds of Staphylococcus bacteria and some are even responsible for serious infections such as blood infections and pneumonia.

Resistant bacteria are more dangerous: Actually, what happens is that a drug that used to work in the case of infections a few years back becomes totally ineffective later on. The reason is that bacteria tend to undergo mutations and become resistant to such infection-fighting medicines. Tetracycline and Methicillin are the common antibiotics that are used to counter these bacteria but in some cases intravenous medication may also be required.

Take care of the skin: Our skin is a very good home to thousands of different kinds of bacteria. Every square centimeter of our skin has millions of them, especial if it is not maintained in a healthy way. Most of them are harmless for us but some are potentially dangerous and the others are outright deadly. The problem attains alarming proportions when these seemingly harmless bacteria enter the blood stream. Once they do so, there is no easy way to tackle them. According to a study, infections are a potential cause of deaths in postoperative patients. So, doctors are extra careful while doing surgery or other operations, which involve puncturing of the skin.

Strong immune system is the need: It is often said, 'Prevention is better than cure'. It is true in this case also. If you have a strong immune system no infection can come near you. So, you need to develop a healthy life style, eat balanced and healthy food and don't overprotect yourself as well as your children. Over protected individually, don't have sufficient natural antibodies in their bodies that can fight with infections.

In the case of such people drugs also are not that effective because their immune systems don't help in this regard. Immune system also tends to become stronger when children's bodies get to fight with the infections on their own. So, don't get worried if your child has a mild fever or infection. During this time his body is continuously forming antibodies to fight with the infections. Once these antibodies are formed they can be formed again when the bacteria attack the body.