Femina, A Work for Every Woman

by John A. Miller

DISEASES PECULIAR TO CHILDREN.

The diseases of children that I propose to inquire into, are not those of so serious a nature as to require the skill of a physician, but rather those trivial ailments which are common among children of tender age and which neither good care nor healthy surroundings seem to be able to ward off. And for this reason, mothers and nurses should familiarize themselves with these ailments and their appropriate treatment, for trivial as they may seem to begin with, if permitted to go on uncontrolled, they often lead to more serious and perhaps fatal consequences.

A coated tongue in children is not always a sign of digestive disturbance, for most nurslings have a white coated tongue in the first three or four weeks of their lives. With the ancients, and even up to within a recent period, the tongue was considered the mirror of the stomach; this was a delusion because nothing definite or of great importance can be deciphered in any case from the appearance of the tongue alone, but this superstition became so deeply rooted in the minds of the public, that even now a medical examination is considered incomplete unless the physician says put your tongue out, for the purpose of a physical inspection.

When the child loses its appetite and the stomach and bowels become deranged, the tongue generally becomes coated. Children who are overfed and in whom the food is not digested, may have a thick fur over the tongue, but as a rule only on the back of the tongue there is a whitish coat. In diseases of the mouth that are purely local, the tongue is sometimes coated, quite independently of any disease of the stomach, as for instance in thrush, in catarrhal inflammation of the mouth, diphtheria, burns and other injuries.

(a) Catarrh of the mouth is an inflammation of the mucous membrane and is recognized by redness and increased secretion. It is most intense on the tongue, which presents the appearance as though it were coated with raspberry syrup. Sometimes the redness is most on the inside of the cheeks and soft palate, while the tongue is covered with soft fur. The inflammation of the mucous membrane of the mouth, extends in aggravated cases to the throat and nasal passages and along the Eustachian tube into the ear. There is many a baby suffering, no one knows from what, when it has an earache due to this cause. When the catarrh has existed for some time, clear, minute water-vesicles rise upon the tongue, gums and mucous membrane of the lips and cheeks. These burst and leave behind them small, flat ulcers, which in the first few days run together and present large, flat, ulcerated surfaces. The children become feverish and refuse to eat and drink for days, partly because to do so, pains them and partly from a loss of appetite.

The most common cause is the eruption of the teeth. Mothers of experience know that when the baby drools, it is teething, and if she examines a little closer she will discover the catarrhal condition described. Another cause is the old-fashioned sugar teat with its souring contents; so is the nursing food, when either too hot or too cold, and in older children irregular or improper food has the same effect, for instance, sour ripe fruit eaten in excess.

The treatment for catarrh of the mouth is simple and successful if directed to the removal of the causes that we have enumerated. The mouth should be cleansed every few hours with a little borax water, and the febrile symptoms generally subside with a dose of mild laxative.

(b) Putrid sore mouth is an aggravated stage of the above affection; it begins on the borders of the gums as inflamed patches coated with a thin layer of yellow mucus. The slightest touch of the ulcerated places causes bleeding, and the affection can be recognized at quite a distance from the mouth by the sense of smell. The disease is contagious and may be imparted from one child to another. Carious teeth are the predisposing agents; mercury or calomel in repeated and large doses produces a similar effect. A very simple and efficient remedy for this affection is a saturated solution of chlorate of potassa, in the proportion of a teaspoonful to a teacupful of boiling water; with this solution wash the mouth out every two hours, and allow a little to be swallowed at the same time; children under one year of age can swallow ten drops; under two years, twenty drops; under three, thirty drops, and larger ones can take a teaspoonful.

(c) Thrush, sprue, or soor is another type of sore mouth that falls to the lot of some children. It resembles catarrh of the mouth, but must be considered a different disease, inasmuch that it is proven to be due to a fungus growth. The disease begins with a change of color from the natural bright red, to a livid, dark red color; the entire mucous membrane of the mouth is uniformly discolored; the discoloration never occurs in spots, and the surface presents the appearance as if a thick coat of raspberry syrup had been smeared upon it. The mucous membrane becomes dry and sticky and the secretion of the mouth is acid. On inspecting the mouth the fungi can be seen, at first as small white points if only existing a few hours, but their growth is very rapid, and they soon form large white patches, which may run together and cover the entire mouth. The treatment is directed towards removing the cause in the first place; if the child has been using the sugar teat that must be discontinued, and even a milk diet should be suspended for a few days, on account of its containing sugar and cheesy matter, and instead the child should be fed with a little thickening of arrow root or wheaten flour. The mouth must be kept sweet and clean with a solution of borax applied with a small camel’s hair brush; if the disease is obstinate, dissolve the borax in creosote water obtained from a druggist, and apply this every hour or two as above.

(d) Parotitis, or mumps, is an inflammation of the parotid or salivary gland. The disease shows itself as a swelling between the angle of the lower jaw and the ear. Several days before the swelling and pain begin, the children feel tired, ill-humored, feverish, lose their appetite, lounge around or voluntarily take to bed. Nervous children show brain symptoms; they complain of headache, are delirious and have convulsions. After two or three days they begin to feel pain behind the jaw, and when they open the mouth, masticate, or on slight pressure, the pain becomes aggravated. The swelling over the corresponding cheek extends to the lower eyelid and back to the neck. The skin over the swelling becomes inflamed and red. In males the swelling may suddenly move from the neck to the testes, while in the female it may strike on the mammæ.