INFECTIONS

Most of institutionalized children will have cough and other minor manifestations of upper respiratory tract infections due to constant re-infection from other members of orphanage community. By the way, running nose is a “normal” finding in many toddlers, who visit day care facilities and, by itself, is even useful for immunity formation. Sometimes orphans are prone to new infections and develop fever after a flight from the local orphanage to Moscow, for instance. Bronchitis and pneumonia are not rare between these children, whose immunity is low due to chronic malnutrition.

There are some special infections, found particularly in orphans-visit: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/108/3/608