Maira Jessica Medellin-Peña

You should be fine not being contagious after 24 hrs of proper antibiotic treatment. If you don’t seek treatment, you can be contagious for 2 to 3 weeks after contracting the infection.

Chickenpox is caused by the varicella-zoster virus. This virus is also the one that develops a painful skin rash called shingles (herpes zoster) later in life. After someone has had chickenpox, the virus stays dormant (resting) in the nervous system for the rest of their life. The virus might reactivate ("wake up") later as shingles to anyone with immune system problems.

Without knowing your child's age and the background, I can only tell you that overall, the proper antibiotic treatment is the same in adults and children above 8 years old. For younger children, amoxicillin and cefuroxime axetil are efficacious. Please discuss this treatment with your doctor.

If you are taking proper antibiotic therapy, you're considered no longer contagious after you've been taking antibiotics for a period of time, which depends on your type of infection, it also depends on factors such as the others in your family having cuts, abrasions, insect bites, etc., which enables the bacteria to infect those vulnerable areas. Cover your infected skin and try to avoid sharing pieces of clothing and towels.

It all depends on which country are you travelling to. Without me knowing exactly where you are going I am going to agree with your health care provider in recommending taking the oral vaccine.

About 90 percent of adults worldwide — even those who've never had symptoms of an infection — test positive for evidence of the virus that causes cold sores. Once you've had an episode of herpes simplex virus infection, the virus lies dormant in nerve cells in your skin and may emerge as another cold sore at the same place as before. Recurrence may be triggered by factors like, viral infection or fever, hormonal changes, such as those related to menstruation, stress, fatigue, exposure to sunlight and wind, changes in the immune system, etc.

To help avoid spreading cold sores to other people or to other parts of your body, you might try some of the following precautions: avoid skin-to-skin contact with others while blisters are present. The virus spreads most easily when there are moist secretions from the blisters. Avoid sharing items. Utensils, towels, lip balm and other items can spread the virus when blisters are present. Keep your hands clean. When you have a cold sore, wash your hands carefully before touching yourself and other people, especially babies.

When present, symptoms are mild and last less than a week. They include fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes. Please visit your health care provider for proper assessment.

I suggest you go see your family doctor as he will be able to explain to you exactly what you need. But remember that the baby is protected from the outside as he/she is growing inside the amniotic sac. There is no physical contact with the unborn baby and the dad.

There is NO risk of contracting dengue fever in North America. All cases in North America have been among travelers returning from areas where dengue is present.

In areas where the dengue virus is present, people who are bitten by mosquitoes are at risk of contracting dengue fever. These areas include urban and semi-urban areas in tropical and subtropical regions. Your risk increases if you stay for an extended time in these areas.

When travelling to areas where dengue fever is present, your risk of contracting the virus is reduced if you protect yourself properly from mosquito bites.

Outbreaks have been seen in Malaysia and southern India and for the moment people from outer Countries should not be overly concerned. It is an emergent zoonotic disease that has a high mortality rate (75%) and the main treatment is intensive supportive care, in some patients with encephalitis, using an antiviral agent (like Ribavirin) has been proven to reduce mortality (Chong et al., 2001).

As you've heard, there has been a few waves of confirmed cases of pandemic (H1N1) virus, commonly called 'swine flu', which originated in Mexico around March 18, 2009.
On August 2010, the WHO decreased pandemic alert level to the post-pandemic period. Which indicates that the worldwide flu activity has returned to typical seasonal patterns.

Don't be afraid of getting a dog :) Although dogs and cats can get Lyme disease, there is no evidence that they spread the disease directly to their owners
If you use the flea and tick medicine you protect your dog from many diseases transmitted by these pests!

Please check this website, it has great info on mosquito transmitted diseases:

http://www.mosquitoworld.net/when-mosquitoes-bite/diseases/

On August 2010, the WHO decreases pandemic alert level to the post-pandemic period, indicating worldwide H1N1 flu activity has returned to typical seasonal patterns.
Almost always it causes fever and cough. It also is common to cause sore throat, fatigue, muscle aches, decreased appetite, headaches and runny nose. Very rarely can cause diarrhea and vomiting. The symptoms you should worry about are those that lead to a rapid progression to severe respiratory distress and medical assistance is then necessary.

Treatment of influenza is supportive care, making the person more comfortable – increasing fluid intake and getting plenty of rest. Antibiotics do not kill viruses and have no role in treating influenza in otherwise healthy people.
Antiviral drugs for influenza are an important adjunct to influenza vaccine for the treatment and prevention of influenza. However, they are not a substitute for vaccination. When taken before infection or during early stage of the disease (within two days of illness onset), antivirals may help prevent infection, and if infection has already taken hold, their early administration may reduce the duration of symptoms by one to two days. Be aware that the Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus has been found to be resistant to the antivirals amantadine and rimantidine.
In severe influenza, admission to hospital, intensive care, antibiotic therapy to prevent secondary infection (such as Pneumonia) and breathing support may be required.

Yes, it can spread. It will be advisable if both of you take medication. For your husband, it will be enough just the 1 pill/1 dose/1 day of fluconazole (Diflucan ONE). These are available over the counter. Make sure you both get treated at the same time as the infection can travel from one to another.

Some people are predisposed to ringworm infections, just treat as they appear. You can prevent infections, but you need to know how these microorganisms thrive (dark, humid places like folds of skin, between toes, etc.) and keep these areas clean and dry.

It is best to ask your doctor his reasoning why he is prescribing antibiotics. Patient education is crucial as it helps parent understand many illnesses. It is true that for viral upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) the treatment is targeted to treating the symptoms (depends on type of URTI as symptoms are different, but in general you use medications for pain and fever, try to keep hydrated drinking plenty of fluids, cold-mist humidifiers at night, and if its a child that cannot blow his/her nose the use of rubber suction bulbs and if necessary saline drops. Only your doctor can determine if you need antibiotics based on criteria for risk of developing a secondary bacterial infection, this can only be determined by the doctor who is seeing your daughter at the time of infection.

Shingles can appear on any part of the body, it is unilateral as it follows the nerves paths.

I am assuming that your doctor prescribed antibiotic drops, in which case these drops are all that she needs to fight the infection. You can make sure the drops are an antibiotic by contacting your physician. In the event that she is not responding to the antibiotic prescribed (due to a number of factors but mainly bacterial resistance) immediately call your doctor's office to schedule an appointment in order to ensure she is getting the right antibiotic.

Herpes viruses are contagious. Contact may occur directly, or through contact with infected razors, towels, dishes, and other shared articles. To prevent spread, avoid direct contact with cold sores or other herpes lesions. Minimize the risk of indirect spread by thoroughly washing items in hot (preferably boiling) water before re-use. Do not share items with an infected person, especially when herpes lesions are active.