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Preparation for school
- Question
- All children when they go to school for the first time have to adapt and come in contact with many infections.
Is it true that in their first year at school they come across a virus every 15 days?
Do the children with CF produce antibodies, or is it always for them like the first year?
Is it an issue if we do not have the time to do the physiotherapy in the mornings and do it in the afternoon and at nights?
Is it better to expose a child with CF from an early age to people of various ages, so getting used to the infections by the time it is 4-5 years old, in order not to miss on school?
If the child is continuously ill do we postpone schooling for next year or do we let it in order to adapt?
- Answer
- Dear friend
It is true that in the first year at school there is one viral infection every 30 days.
All children, including the children with CF, do produce antibodies and the rate of viral infections decreases in time.
The morning physiotherapy is necessary, because in this way the child clears the mucus that has been concentrated in the lungs after 10-12 hours of rest. The mucus, that cannot be cleared on its own, is moved by the physiotherapy to more central bronchii and is removed through cough, therefore decreasing the bacterial load and improving the pulmonary function.
Dear friend, the school starts at the age of 6, not at 4. It is good for the child to receive a preschool education, but not in expense of its health.
Because the viral infections trigger exacerbations of chronic endobrochial infections, if the family has the option, it is wise to send the child to kindergarten after the age of 3-4. If the family does not have such an option, the child can go at an earlier age.
If your child has many and frequent infections you must get in touch with the CF center that monitors you, in order to receive the proper instructions and to discuss your course according the clinical picture of the child and the sort of microorganisms that are detected in the lung.
Yours friendly,
Dr. Stavros Doudounakis
- 25.03.2013
