Just Health: Recognizing Worrisome Signs in Children

Every parent wants to protect and care for their child in the best way possible. We all know the basic guidelines when it comes to pediatric care—consult a doctor urgently if an infant under three months has a fever over 100.4°F, and so on. However, there are also signs that might appear in infants and children, which are not commonly known to most parents. We've organized it for you: what signs could indicate a problem that requires immediate medical attention? And when should you rush to the emergency room? The following list is not exhaustive but can give you initial signs for the need for a check-up.<\/p>

Projectile Vomiting<\/u><\/strong><\/p>

This is one of the common warning signs familiar to most parents. Many infants tend to spit up excess food or vomit occasionally, usually a natural and non-dangerous occurrence, or a common viral infection. But if an infant is projectile vomiting, it might indicate serious issues, and immediate medical evaluation is needed.<\/p>

Projectile vomiting could indicate increased intracranial pressure resulting from trauma, a tumor, or intracranial bleeding, or it may be a sign of pyloric stenosis, a stomach valve blockage, mainly seen in infants around the age of one month.<\/p>

Excessive Urination<\/u><\/strong><\/p>

Infants should urinate about 24 mL per day, while children should urinate about 12 mL per day. Adults, on the other hand, should urinate between half a liter and 2 liters daily. In any case of excessive urination, a check-up is required, as the condition known as "polyuria" could indicate a wide range of diseases. Most of them can be confirmed or ruled out through a simple and immediate clinic test.<\/p>

Excessive urination might indicate diabetes, which can occur at any age, though it typically manifests around age 10. Other symptoms of diabetes include excessive thirst, significant weight loss, unusual fatigue, and more. Excessive urination might also point to the consumption of caffeine-rich beverages or hormonal disorders related to endocrine diseases like Addison's disease, hyperthyroidism, Cushing's syndrome, or other conditions such as certain mental disorders, excessive vitamin B or C intake, medication toxicity, and more.<\/p>

Bloody Diarrhea<\/u><\/strong><\/p>

Diarrhea is a common condition in infants, as well as in children and adults. It usually results from bacteria in food or a virus. Typically, the only necessary treatment is to drink plenty to prevent dehydration, and sometimes additional salts are needed due to the significant fluid loss. However, these are for regular diarrhea. If the diarrhea is bloody, it is a significant warning sign that requires urgent consultation with a doctor.<\/p>

Bloody diarrhea might indicate a food allergy, and it stops when dietary changes are made. It could also point to celiac disease—sensitivity to gluten protein found in wheat and rye, which affects the digestive system, or an inflammatory bowel disease like Crohn's or colitis, or some infection such as salmonella, shigella, etc. In such cases, maintaining hygiene and drinking plenty is crucial, and often no medicinal treatment is needed.<\/p>

Breathing Difficulties<\/u><\/strong><\/p>

Breathing difficulties in infants and children occur frequently, especially during winter and transitional seasons. Usually, treatment focuses on inhalation therapy and saline solutions to ease breathing. However, if the breathing difficulties become severe and persistent, or if accompanied by high fever, urgent medical assistance is needed. It's important to pay special attention to the increase in respiratory rate: Adults breathe about 20 breaths per minute, while infants and children breathe about 40 breaths per minute. An increased respiratory rate, the appearance of blue lips or protrusion in the chest, or conversely, a reduced breathing rate due to fatigue necessitates immediate emergency room attention.<\/p>

Petechiae<\/u><\/strong><\/p>

In medicine, petechiae are also known as "purpura." They are red spots appearing on the skin due to bleeding from small blood vessels under the skin surface. Petechiae can be differentiated from a regular rash by pressing on the skin: In a regular rash, the red spots disappear under pressure. In petechiae, the red spots remain visible even when pressed. If purpura appears, it's important to seek urgent medical advice. This is especially critical if the spots appear in the oral cavity, as they often indicate a significant danger of bleeding.<\/p>

Petechiae might indicate a number of serious issues, such as severe infections like meningococcemia, thrombocytopenia—a significant drop in the number of platelets responsible for blood clotting, causing internal bleeding (could be due to immune system impairment, medication, cancer, or other diseases), or Henoch-Schonlein purpura—a condition that causes inflammation of blood vessels, internal bleeding, and symptoms like abdominal pain, joint inflammation, and kidney function problems.<\/p>

Umbilical Cord not Falling Off<\/u><\/strong><\/p>

The remaining umbilical cord attached to the infant usually falls off within about four weeks from birth at most. If it doesn't fall off after a month, it might indicate a rare and life-threatening disease. The disease is called LAD and is characterized by a dysfunction in neutrophils, a type of white blood cell.<\/p>

Abnormal Fontanel<\/u><\/strong><\/p>

Every infant is born with a fontanel—a gap between the skull bones, allowing the brain to grow properly. The posterior fontanel closes around four months, and the anterior closes by 18 months. Checking the fontanel allows for identifying various problems. In some cases, the anterior fontanel closes earlier than 18 months. Usually, this doesn't pose a problem, but a follow-up by a pediatrician is advised to ensure early closure doesn't affect brain development. If the fontanel is sunken, noticeable by touch, it often indicates infant dehydration, especially if accompanied by vomiting, diarrhea, or reduced urine output. A bulging fontanel usually signals increased intracranial pressure; if accompanied by vomiting, high fever, drowsiness, or restlessness, immediate emergency care is recommended. It could sometimes indicate meningitis.<\/p>

Salty Sweat<\/u><\/strong><\/p>

Sweat, in general, is salty, both in children and adults. However, a very high level of saltiness in sweat could indicate various diseases. Salty sweat can be tasted when kissing a calm baby who's not dehydrated and noticing a salty taste.<\/p>

Salty sweat might indicate cystic fibrosis—a genetic disease affecting secretory glands, causing infections, breathing difficulties, sweat containing chlorine and sodium, and other severe symptoms. It can also point to celiac disease—body's sensitivity to gluten in wheat and rye, or Addison's disease, which is actually adrenal gland insufficiency, leading to an over-secretion of salts.<\/p>

Protruding Ear<\/u><\/strong><\/p>

When an ear becomes protruding, it could signal a dangerous infection requiring immediate treatment.<\/p>

A protruding ear might signal various issues, such as a simple bug bite that doesn't require special treatment, an abscess—a pus-filled wound treatable in various ways as advised by a doctor, lymph node enlargement needing close monitoring to ensure it doesn't grow further, or mastoiditis—a complication from a middle ear infection spreading to the bone behind the ear. This complication usually comes with other symptoms such as fever and chills and must be treated urgently to prevent severe consequences like serious blood infection, meningitis, or facial nerve paralysis.<\/p>

Bruises<\/u><\/strong><\/p>

Every child gets bruises sometimes. But if the bruises on the child's or infant's skin are arranged in a defined pattern, abuse should be suspected. In these cases, unfortunately, circular burns from cigarettes, straight line bruises from a belt hit, triangular burns from an iron, or hand-shaped bruises are common.<\/p>

White Eyes<\/u><\/strong><\/p>

This particular phenomenon is usually noticeable not when looking directly at the child, but rather in their photographs. You've likely come across the phenomenon of red eyes in photos, caused by light reflection from the camera. But in some cases, the eyes in a photo appear white. This rare phenomenon, known as "leukocoria," may indicate a severe type of cancer or other problems. If you encounter this in a photo, urgently consult an ophthalmologist. Although newborns are now examined after birth to identify such issues early, it might still appear later in life, so it is essential to check it promptly.<\/p>

White eyes or "cat eyes" could indicate cataracts—clouding of the eye lens that mainly appears in old age or in diabetics but can also occur due to a nutritional disorder, eye trauma, sun exposure, or a genetic tendency. They might also signal retinoblastoma—a relatively rare but existing cancerous tumor in the retina, usually confined to the eye but can spread along the optic nerve to the brain, or a corneal scar that might result from some eye trauma.<\/p>