White Blood Cell Count 16

Learning on the mend

A healthy dose of learning can ease the boredom of prolonged hospital stays.

NINE-YEAR-OLD Tan Hong Sheng has been in and out of hospitals all his life. Diagnosed with chronic lung disease when he was just a month old, Hong Sheng’s damaged lungs are not able to supply enough oxygen to his body. As a result, he carries a mobile oxygen tank with him at all times. When he goes to school, he brings the tank along with him.

Unfortunately, Hong Sheng has not been able to attend school much because of his frequent stays in hospital. Whenever he exerts himself or falls sick, he has to go back, often for months at a stretch. His longest stay was for a whole year.

Last month, Hong Sheng was warded at the Serdang Hospital in Kuala Lumpur when his health deteriorated. He had no appetite and his weight dropped to 14kg, a sure sign that he was not getting sufficient oxygen. Hong Sheng has been at the hospital for five weeks so far and it does not look like he will be discharged anytime soon.

“It is really boring being in the hospital,” says Hong Sheng. “I miss school.”

Though he has gained 3kg since he checked in, Hong Sheng’s father Tan Jing Wem explains that his son’s doctors want him to get stronger before he goes home.

Two weeks ago, the Year Three pupil – of SJK (C) Kheow Bin in Batu Caves, Selangor – and his father received news that made them smile: school is coming to Hong Sheng, courtesy of a new initiative to provide formal education to young patients who are unable to attend school due to illness.

The Schools in Hospitals programme which was launched by Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin last Tuesday is a joint initiative by the Education and Health Ministries and the Nurul Yaqeen Foundation. It aims to facilitate continuous education for hospitalised children, especially those who are warded for long periods and returning patients like Hong Sheng.

“I get to study! I am very happy,” exclaims Hong Sheng. The plastic oxygen mask that he is wearing can barely mask the excitement in his voice.

“It’s so boring staying in my room. But now, the teacher comes to teach me every day. I like to learn. I really love drawing,” says Hong Sheng, holding up a piece of artwork which he had completed a day before.

Hong Sheng’s father expressed gratitude for the initiative that would allow his son to be schooled while in hospital.

“He has missed a lot of school due to his condition. He loves to learn. And he loves to talk. But here in the hospital, he has no one to talk to and no chance to learn. Now, he can catch up with what he has missed in school,” says Tan.

Parvovirus, Canine - Claws & Paws Veterinary Hospital

Virus that attacks the intestines and causes sloughing of the inner layers of the intestine. The most common symptoms of this disease (the “intestinal form”) are vomiting and diarrhea. Another less common form, the “cardiac form”, occurs in very young pups (less than 8 weeks of age) and attacks the heart muscle, often resulting in sudden death.

Parvovirus is contagious to dogs only—not to cats or people. Any age, breed, or sex of dog could be affected by parvovirus. However, infection with parvovirus does not automatically mean illness. Several factors such as age, environment, stress, parasites, and general health status of each individual dog infected could affect the severity of the disease. The degree of illness could range from very mild to unapparent to very severe, often resulting in death. The disease is usually more severe in young dogs (less than 6 months of age), old dogs, Rottweilers, and Dobermans. The younger and smaller the dog, the greater the chance that it will not recover.

Parvovirus is resistant to extremes of temperature (i.e., it survives freezing and extreme heat) and is unharmed by detergents, alcohol, and common disinfectants. Direct transmission occurs when an infected dog comes in contact with a healthy dog. The virus is found in heavy concentration in the infected dog’s stool. Because dogs will usually sniff where another dog has eliminated, this fecal-oral transmission is the most common method of transmission. The virus particles can be easily spread by hands, shoes, clothing, or other inanimate objects (fomites)—this is an indirect source of transmission.

As many as 30 billion parvovirus particles can be shed from the intestines of an infected dog in every ounce of stool. The highest concentration of virus in the stool is seen when the infected dog is showing signs of illness. A dog can, however, be a source of infection to other dogs without it having observable signs of illness (the disease may be incubating). Transmission can occur for at least 3 weeks after a dog becomes infected with the virus. Chronic “carriers” are not known to exist as in other viral diseases. Parvovirus in the environment can infect susceptible dogs for as long as 6 months once shed in the stool.

Clinical signs include vomiting, fever, loss of appetite, depression, and bloody diarrhea with a very foul odor. Infected animals rapidly dehydrate and severe cases progress to shock and death. Early, vigorous treatment of illness caused by canine parvovirus infection can save lives.

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