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How long is a piece of string? by Dr. Iain Corness posted by M on 2009-11-25 01:53:50 CST
Pediatric Shots
Posted by M on 2009-02-16 00:54:52 CST
Last month Thailand celebrated Children’s Day. I personally believe this is a marvelous concept. It really is something we can all relate to – and children can enjoy being ‘officially’ in the limelight.
Children’s Day – then and now
Last month Thailand celebrated Children’s Day. I personally believe this is a marvelous concept. It really is something we can all relate to – and children can enjoy being ‘officially’ in the limelight.
However, life was not always fun for children. Not even in the enlightened western world. I came across a UK report which detailed research by historians from Kingston University who had teamed up with the Great Ormond Street Hospital to reveal the medical records of sick children cared for during Victorian and Edwardian times.
New touching stories offering a glimpse into the traumatic lives of poor, chronically sick children during Victorian and Edwardian times have been revealed. Around 10,000 records, detailing the admissions of children who went to the hospital’s Cromwell House convalescent home in North London, along with more than 84,000 records of young patients who attended Great Ormond Street Hospital have been studied.
Dr Sue Hawkins, research project manager said, “Life for some of these desperately sick children involved being passed from pillar to post". With so few hospitals willing to treat children, and their home circumstances not ideal for recovery, but while in hospital and at the convalescent home they received good food, warmth, education and the best medical care available.
The research produced such case histories as six year old Sarah Coulson who was admitted on 16 August 1875 suffering terrible burns. She made the long, difficult journey to Great Ormond Street from her home in Derby. After her treatment she moved to Cromwell House but eight months later suffered a relapse and had to return to the hospital. A year later records show Sarah was back in Cromwell House and her burns had improved. She was finally allowed to go home after her mother pleaded with doctors for her return and in the 1891 census Sarah is listed as working as a waitress. A small success story.
However, Sarah Coulson was one of the lucky ones. Dr Andrea Tanner, an archivist at Great Ormond Street Hospital, said new records brought to life the early workings of the hospital. Evidence gathered shows 10 percent of the children visiting the Great Ormond Street between 1852 and 1914 were suffering from an infectious disease, one in five of whom died. “The information about children suffering from infectious diseases is quite revealing,” she said. “The hospital was not supposed to accept children with such severe conditions but the doctors obviously felt unable to turn them away.”
It makes you realize just how lucky we are with the facilities available for our children, and the advances in medical treatment. How many of the children admitted to the Great Ormond Street hospital would have been saved by antibiotics? How many would have been spared from illness by immunization?
Yes, we (and our children) live in a fortunate era, but please make the most of the opportunities that medical science now offers. Are your children’s shots up to date? Mine weren’t till we checked! The pediatric department can advise you very easily.
Special Recommeded Vaccine for this month -->
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