The Typhoid Fever

Typhoid Fever Alert

 

When natural disasters strike, not only do they result in damage to property and loss of lives but their aftermath often includes continuing grief over the outbreak of infectious diseases due to poor sanitation.  As the rainy season sets in, our preparation must include adequate protection against infectious diseases.  One such infection that can be prevented through immunization is typhoid fever, a disease that downed over thousand people around the world.

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Basic information about Moral-Spiritual Development

Moral-Spiritual Development

Moral-Spiritual Development

This aspect of human development is sometimes taken for granted.  Some say anybody could grasp moral-spiritual values while in the process of growing up.  However, parents and educators should not just leave the development of values to chance.  Provisions should be made in order to weigh and select intelligently behavioral reactions to situations.

Concepts in Moral-Spiritual Development

1. 1.The moral field is vast.  Moral character traits, such as honesty, cooperation, courage, etc.
2. 2. The behavior in moral is the one accepted by the society at large where one belongs.
3. 3. Moral-spiritual values are gradually developed through associations with others.
4. 4.  To choose between right and wrong is a delicate complex reaction that needs critical thinking.
5. 5.  Development of values goes hand in hand maturity and learning.

Basic information about Emotion

Basic Information About Emotion

Emotion

What is Emotion?

Emotion is a heightened state of arousal and personal feelings or it is defined as a stirred-up state of an organism involving internal responses.

What are the kinds of emotion?

1.  Fear

Fear is a response to some fear-producing stimulus.  Phobia is when fear becomes irrational and takes on compelling properties.  Example: Claustrophobia or the fear of closed spaces.

2.  Anger

Anger may vary from being modestly “worked-up” to being “bitter” enrage or infuriated.  This may initiated additional responding such as hostility, aggressions, or regressions.

3.  Pleasure

Pleasure ranges from simple reactions of delight or fun to state experiences of love. For example: hugging, kissing, smiling, and laughing.

What are the General Characteristics of Emotion?

1.  Indicator of Emotion

Gestures, postures, facial expressions and movements may be used to help understand the emotion being expressed.

2.  Physiological Changes

The physiological changes such as a GST (Galvanic Skin Response): increased heart rate, breathing pattern, blood pressure and perspiration are measures which are often interpreted as indicators of emotion.

3.  Emotion as Response

This implies that emotions are responses to the provoking stimuli.

4.  Stimulus Identification

Stimulus identification because of much subjectivity, the stimulus that generated the response must be accurately evaluated.  Example: Tears, is it always an emotional response?  Chopping onions can cause tears.  Lose eyes can also cause tears.

5.  Anthromorphism

Anthomorphism is attributing human characteristics to a lower organism.  Example: when the dog wags its tail because you gave him food, this does not necessarily mean that dog is happy.  It is more appropriate to say that the dog responded with tail-wagging.

What are the Theories about Emotion?

1. James Lange Theory

This theory maintains that bodily changes are primarily antecedent to the mental state (not the sequence from situation to bodily disturbances to the mental state).  Example:  We would not say that “We meet a lion, run and are frightened.” Similarly, we feel sad because we cry, afraid because we tremble.

2.  Cannon-Bard

A reinforcement of Cannon-Daua of the well-know hypothalamic views:

• One perceives a situation to be a fearful one.
• Hypothalamus is aroused and sends impulses to the brain (cerebral cortex) and to the various part of the body.
• Thus, we have the knowing and feeling of fear at the same time, that we have bodily changes and action of going away.  Example: “You see a bear, becomes frightened and run away”.

3.  Dollard and Miller’s Frustration-aggression Hypothesis

The aggression hypothesis states that when a goal is blocked or thwarted, anger and aggression may the results.  It means that when one is frustrated he can be aggressive.  But not all aggressions result to frustration.

What are the Two Types of Frustrations?

A.  Personal Frustrations

Personal frustrations result from personal insufficiencies such as inadequate intelligence, lack of physical strength, disabling disease or other handicaps.

B.  Environmental Frustrations

Environmental frustrations are obstacle through the restriction imposed by people, those caused by nature such as flood, typhoons, earthquakes, rugged mountains, and etc.

Basic information about Moral-Spiritual Development

Moral-Spiritual Development

Moral-Spiritual Development

This aspect of human development is sometimes taken for granted.  Some say anybody could grasp moral-spiritual values while in the process of growing up.  However, parents and educators should not just leave the development of values to chance.  Provisions should be made in order to weigh and select intelligently behavioral reactions to situations.

Concepts in Moral-Spiritual Development

1. 1. The moral field is vast.  Moral character traits, such as honesty, cooperation, courage, etc.
2. 2.  The behavior in moral is the one accepted by the society at large where one belongs.
3. 3. Moral-spiritual values are gradually developed through associations with others.
4. 4. To choose between right and wrong is a delicate complex reaction that needs critical thinking.
5. 5. Development of values goes hand in hand maturity and learning.

Basic information about Motor Development

Motor Development

Motor Development

Motor refers to the movement such as walking, swimming, grasping and so on.  Some of the babies are slow but some fast, however motor skills appear in a definite order.

There is a definite pattern of development from month to month and year to year.  The infant lifts his head before he sits.  The patter is similar for all children and each infant passes through the same step in the course of his development.  The patter is uniform as a result of maturity.

Once the child has mastered standing and walking alone and act of getting about, he progresses rapidly to more advanced skills, like jumping, skipping, running, etc.  He develops speed and accuracy and begins to coordinate all these skills into more complex activities.

Some Probable Causes of Delayed Motor Development

1.      Sickness

Polio is an infectious disease caused by a virus that infects the spinal cord.

2.      Malnutrition

When the child is deprived or lacking in Calcium, Phosphorous and Vitamin D, Minerals and Vitamins that nourish the bones, then the child’s motor development is delayed.

3.      Obesity

The excessive fatty tissue, maybe a hindrance to his motor activities as it tends to limit his activities because the pull of the weight is disproportionate to his body constituents.

4.      Lack of Opportunity for Motor Activity

The playpen limits the space area for him to explore the motor activities.

5.      Over-protectiveness

Too much carrying of the child will not give him freedom to move around.

Basic information about the development of an individual

The Development of an Individual

Growth Trends

Directions of Development or Growth Trends

1.  Cephalo-caudal

The Cepahlo-caudal or from head to foot direction of development as for example in the development of the fetus, the head develops before the legs assume their final form.  Then after birth, the head is proportionately bigger then the lower extremities, but later the lower extremities will be proportional the head region.

2.  Proximo-distal

The proximo-distal or from a centax-outward direction of development is where the central parts of the body mature earlier the becoming functional before those toward the periphery.  This is shown in the use of trunk and shoulder region when a child tries to grasp objects.  The shoulders develop before the arms and the hands, the palm develop before the fingers.

Techniques, Methods and Instruments used in Studying Children

1.  Longitudinal Method

The Longitudinal Method studies an individual or a group of children for a certain period of time.  These same groups of selected children are observed repeatedly over an extended period of time. It may start from the conception period of ten years.  Recorded observations and test results are necessary.  These observations and test may be done daily, weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly or annually.

2.  Cross-Sectional Method

The Cross-Sectional Method is the investigator administers test or battery of test all at once to children of different ages.  (In this case, not the same children are used to take series of test repeatedly).  Tthe children of different chronological ages of mental ages or grade placements ages take the test at the time.  Comparisons of the performances of the children of different ages, chronological ages, mental age, grade placement age or a combination of these ages are made.

3.  Restrospective Method

The Restrospective Method is the special method thereby parents or other significant adults (such as teachers) are asked to recollect events from some past-time concerning some individual.  It may be taken into account though that recollections and memories may be distorted or incomplete.

Basic information about Physical Development

Physical Development

Physical Development

Puberty is the time when the sex organs mature and boys and girls become capable of reproducing their kind.  With genital development, the boy produces sperms and girl mature ovum.  For girls this usually occurs between 11-13 years; for boys 14-16.  In girls, this is signaled by the coming of the first menstrual flow, in boys the equivalent could be nocturnal emissions (seminal flow) also called “wet dreams”.

Concepts of Physical Growth and Development

1. 1.  Physical growth occurs continuously from conception to full maturity.
2. 2.  Physical growth and development follows a general uniform pattern.  But there are some irregular fluctuations between males and females.
3. 3.  Growth of the individual is often unstable.
4. 4. There are unique individual patterns of growth.  Example: teeth at birth, precocious maturity.

Basic information about Social Development

Social Development

Social Development

One of the significant developments during childhood is the socialization of child.  It is during the period when the child learns what it is to be a member of a group and comes to understand and conform to the expectations of the group.

When the child is born, he is mostly a physical being with physiological needs as the strongest sources of motives.  As he grows older, he becomes aware of people and pressures to conform from them.  Although signs of approval such as smiling or a kiss from the mother to the child, comes to know that a certain behavior is acceptable.  Through signs of disapproval such as frowns, or an admonition, he learns to discriminate what is not acceptable and therefore should be avoided.

To become specialized, the child needs social experiences.  The children who were isolated from contacts with people will not learn how to get along with people.  Some of the behavior patterns learned in early childhood are negatives, aggressions, teasing, bullying, rivalry, cooperation, friendliness, sympathy, dependency, etc.  In late childhood, the social behavior patterns which emerge include susceptibility to adult influence, competition, social insight, social discrimination, sex antagonism and prejudice.

The General Concepts in Social Development

1. 1.  Social Development follows a general pattern that is true to all children.
2. 2. No child is born socially, so that getting along with other is developed as the child matures.
3. 3. Social development is interrelated with other aspects of development such as emotional, physical and moral.
4. 4. The social development of the child starts as early as that time when he is able to discriminate or perceive.
5. 5.  There are many social behaviors seemingly anti-social to the adult, but are natural characteristics of the age level.
6. 6. During the gang-age stage, social consciousness develops rapidly.

Basic information about Emotional Development

Emotional Development

Emotional Development

The development of emotions is influenced by many factors, prominent maturation and learning.  We are all born with the capacity to respond emotionally, to laugh, to cry and feel afraid.  But what will make us laugh, cry, or afraid is not inborn, it is the products of learning.  According to many psychologists who have studied the development of the emotion, the very first emotional response the infant makes at birth is one of general excitement particularly of that crying.  Crying is accompanied by some uncoordinated movement of the arms called “thrashing”. 

Crying and trashing as general responses are differentiated into two categories namely: 

1. Pleasant
2. Unpleasant

. 

The common unpleasant emotions which during childhood are:

·         Fear

·         Shyness

·         Embarrassment

·         Worry

·         Anger

·         Jealousy

·         Grief

The pleasant childhood emotions are:

·         Affection

·         Curiosity

·         Joy

·         Pleasure

·         Delight

·         Happiness

The child who grows in an emotional unfavorable climate may development nervous mechanism, moodiness and may over-react emotionally.

Meningococcemia

Meningococcemia

Meningococcal infection, defined?

The Meningococcal infection is a chronic infection which is caused by bacteria known as Neisseria meningitides.

Meningococcal infection through Neisseria meningitides bacteria will bring disease to the patients. The most common form of disease is meningitis and the rare case is Meningococcemia.

What is Meningococcemia?

The Meningococcemia is a clinical disease form of meningococcal infection which is caused by spread of the bacteria into the patient’s bloodstream that set off to cause severe signs and symptoms of the illness.

The most devastating form of meningococcemia is fulminant meningococcemia which consists of hemorrhagic rashes drop in blood pressure and circulating shock leading to death.

What are the most common signs and symptoms of Meningococcemia?

• There is fever
• There is stiff neck
• There is convulsion in some patients
• There is delirium
• There is an altered mental status
• There is vomiting
• There are presence cough, sore throat, other respiratory symptoms
• There is presence pinpoint rashes then become wider and appear like bruises starting on the legs and arms
• There are large map like bruise-like patches
• There are severe skin lesions may lead to gangrene
• There are unstable vital signs
• There may or may not have signs of meningitis such as: stiff neck, convulsion, delirium, altered mental status, vomiting)

How does meningococcal disease spread and transmitted individuals?

The meningococcal infection can be spread through direct contact with infected individuals. It is being transmitted through the bacteria from the discharges from the nose and throat of the patient. The meningococcal bacteria are extremely delicate outside of the body and are common, although these bacteria are not very contagious.

Coughing, and sneezing, kissing are the acts that are considered direct physical contact to the carrier that spread the bacteria from one person to another. There are also some indirect spreading agents that can spread bacteria through infected spit (saliva), food or drinks, cups, utensils and drinking straws.

People should not share anything that has been in or from their mouth. This is the clinical rule in general.

Smoking or even the exposure to cigarette smoke should be avoided because this would increases the risk of spread of meningococci or even with other bacteria.

Who are the people considered close contacts of a meningococcal disease?

Those people who have had direct contact with saliva or mucous from the nose or throat of an infected person are considered as close contacts.

• They are those people who live in the same house
• They are those people who have kissed the infected person
• They are those people who share a bed
• They are those children in the same childcare center or nursery because they
• They are those people who frequently put objects into their mouths
• They are those people who share drinks, cigarettes, food, drinks, water, glasses, cups, lipstick, musical instruments with mouthpieces, or anything else that has been in the mouth of the infected person.

What happens when people are already considered as close contacts?

• An antibiotic must be given immediately to close contacts with the case of meningococcal disease as their protection.
• Classmates or co-workers are considered close contacts only if they have had direct contact with secretions from the mouth or nose of the infected person.
• Some time those people who are close contacts of the infected person do not pose a risk to others individual. They may continue with their daily activities like going to work and attending school.
• The preventive treatments /medications are not required to siblings and other family members of close contacts.
• Classes, school-related or work- related activities, church activities must continue as scheduled in most cases.
• The public health officials may recommend that close contacts will receive antibiotics, vaccine, or both as preventive measures against additional cases of meningococcal disease but this is still depending on the circumstances.

What are the medications for meningococcemia and meningitis?

The meningococcal bacteria that have invaded the body can be treated and killed by Penicillin. There would be great chances of survival if the meningococcal infection will be recognized and treated.

What are the preventive measures for meningococcemia?

• We must always wash our hands with soap and water.
• We must always avoid close contact with meningococcemia infected people.
• We must always increase our resistance by having healthy diet, regular exercise, adequate rest and sleep, no alcohol and cigarette smoking.
• We must always maintain clean environment/surroundings
• We must not share utensils, cups, water bottles, lipstick, cigarettes and other liquid drinking bottles, dishes, glasses, cups, lipstick, mouthpieces of musical instruments, mouth guards, or anything else that has been in the mouth of the infected person
• We must always avoid crowded places

Cognitive Development

Cognitive Development

Cognitive Development

Cognition of understanding is dependent on the child’s readiness to understand himself and his environment.  This comes from the Uvel of maturation of the brain and the rest of the nervous system and of his senses development are the intelligence of the child opportunity given to him to explore and manipulate his environment and the conditions of the sense of organs.

Stage of Cognitive Development According to Joan Pacet

1. Sensory Motor

The Sensory Motor is the stage from birth to 2 years wherein the object exists for him only so long as he senses it.  He organizes what he can see, hear, grasp or suck.  What he cannot see or hear or touch does not seem to exist to him.  While in early infancy, he can suck objects brought to his mouth, later he learns to grasp the object and bring it to his mouth. 

2. Prepartional Stage

Prepartional stage is from 2 to 7 years.  This is subdivided into two:

1. Preconceptional stage (2-4)
2. Intuitive stage (4.7)

Here he relies on overt actions.  He cannot think without acting.  He develops a new capacity called “representation”.  He can think some actions even though they are not performed, events when they are not happening; and objects although they are not present.  He begins to be able to represent the external internally with symbols, like words.  The pre-operational child thinking is centered on himself/herself, not because he is selfish, but because he does not know the other viewpoints exists.

3. POS Concrete Operational Stage 

During the POS concrete operational stage (7-11 years).  The child’s thinking is more similar to the adult’s in some ways.  He can retrace his thoughts, correct himself, and start again if necessary.  Thinking at this stage is characterized by three logical operations:

• Combining
• Reversing
• forming association

However, the child still thinks in terms of the concrete not abstract.

4.  Formal operational stage  

The Formal operational stage is at the age of (11-15 years).  The adolescent can search for and reach a general rule through the use of logic.  He learns to understand things through cause and effect and to develop concepts.  Abstract concepts become understandable and child can generalize from one situation to another.

The Psychoses

The Psychoses

Psychoses

Psychoses are serious forms of mental illness characterized by withdrawal into the private world by beliefs and percepts not experienced by other.

Psychoses maybe classified as organic and somatogenic and functional or psychogenic.

The Organic Psychoses

Organic Psychoses are those ailments caused by changes in the brains or central nervous system as senile dementia which is attributable to the deterioration of the aged.

The Four (4) Types of Organic Psychoses

1. 1.      Psychosis associated with infectious disease
2. 2.      Psychosis associated with toxins or alcohol
3. 3.      Psychosis associated with head injuries
4. 4.      Psychosis associated with old age

The Functional Psychoses

Functional Psychosis is a serious mental illness or disorder involving the total personality with no observable tissue damage.  Having organic basis, these ailments are believed to result from users of living under emotional stress.

Types of Functional Psychosis

1. 1.      Schizophrenia – also name dementia praecox by Emil Kraeplin, a German psychiatrist.  Bleuler named it as the splitting of the mind.
2. 2.      Affective Reactions of Manic depressive psychoses are characterized by period of depressions of elation or both.

The Five (5) Types of Schizophrenia

1. 1.      Simple
2. 2.      Hebephrenic
3. 3.      Catatonic
4. 4.      Paranoid
5. 5.      Schizo-affective

The usual symptoms of Schizophrenia

1. 1.      Disorganized patterns of feelings and thinking in which there is no logic, or reason in the thoughts and feelings expressed.
2. 2.      Apathy of absence of feelings and emotions.
3. 3.      Bizarre actions which may include absurd and eccentric gestures or such activities as self decorating.
4. 4.      Seclusiveness of narrowing of interests and social contacts.
5. 5.      Disorganized pattern of speech
6. 6.      Delusions and hallucinations
7. 7.      Deteriorations of conduct and personal habit.

The Neurosis

The Neurosis

Neurosis Mental Disorder

Neurosis is a mental disorder characterized by incomplete insight into the nature of difficulties or conflicts.

The Nine (9) General Characteristics of Neurosis

1. 1.  Presence of Anxiety – there is a feeling of dread, fearful anticipation and apprehensiveness in most routine circumstances.
2. 2.   Inability to function at capacity.  The neurotic fails to realize his potentials and frequency fails miserably in his achievements efforts.
3. 3. Rigid or repetitive behavior – incapable of learning new means of adjusting the life’s problems.
4. 4.  Egocentricity – self-preoccupied and fails to distinguish that there are other people in his environment.  He tends to exortanly selfish.
5. 5.  Hypersensitivity – inability to tolerate criticism
6. 6.   Immaturity – failure to develop mature emotions and motivational pattern.
7. 7.  Somatic Complaints – physical ailment which is psychogenically oriented and has therefore no organic or psychogenic basic.
8. 8.  Unhappiness – feelings of loneliness of being hurt, of missing the good things in life.
9. 9.  Unconscious motivation – awareness of reality is colored by unconsciousness, fears and hostilities.

Types of Neurotic Reactions

A)      Anxiety Neurosis – this manifests itself principally in feelings for which there seems to be no specific basis on reality.

B)      Hysterical Neurosis – this is a kind of adjustment through conversion of illness.

C)      Dissociative Neurosis – the patient’s flight is into the awareness rather than into sickness

1        Amnesia – forgetting

2        Fugue – leaves his original environment and takes a new one.

3        Multiple Personality – two or more personality

4        Somnambulism – sleepwalking or any activity that takes place while asleep.

D)      Phobic Reaction – irrational fear or dread of person, objects, acts or situation.

1. 1        Agoraphobia – fear of open places
2. 2        Claustrophobia – fear of closed places
3. 3        Acrophobia – fear of heights
4. 4        Germophobia – fear of germs
5. 5        Hematophobia – fear of blood
6. 6        Zoophobia – fear of animals
7. 7        Xenophobia – fear of strangers
8. 8        Pathophobia – fear of disease
9. 9        Tapophobia – fear of being buried alive
10. 10    Cheimophobia – fear of cold
11. 11    Electrophobia – fear of electricity
12. 12    Astrophobia – fear of lightning / thunder

E)      Obsessive / Compulsive

1. 1     Obsession – irrational thought which persistently forces into consciousness.
2. 2     Compulsion – irrational act, which a person is compelled to carry out

F)       Depressive / Neurotic Depression nor Reactive Depression – is precipitated by saddening stress situation or bereavement


G)      Hypochindrial Reaction – pre-occupation with bodily processes.