Many conditions, medicines, and diseases interfere with the
ability to heal or fight infection. Your child may be at risk for a more
serious problem from his or her symptoms if he or she has any of the following.
Be sure to tell your child's health professional.
Conditions
- A newborn or is less than 3 months old.
Newborns younger than 3 months of age have a greater risk for developing
dehydration than older infants and children.
- Babies born
prematurely. This risk continues until the child is 6 months older than when he
or she was expected to be born.
- Abnormally slow growth and
development
- Previous abdominal surgery
- A structural
problem of the digestive tract, including:
- Intussusception
- Malrotation
- Hirschsprung's
disease
- Travel outside of native country
Medicines
- Corticosteroid treatment, such as prednisone
- Medicines to support organ transplant
- Medicines used to treat cancer
(chemotherapy)
- Radiation therapy
Diseases
- Cancer
- Diabetes
- Gallbladder
disease
- Heart defects
- Hepatitis
- Human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection
- Inguinal
hernia
- Inflammatory bowel disease, such as Crohn's disease or
ulcerative colitis
- Kidney disease
- Malabsorption syndromes, such as
celiac disease or cystic fibrosis
- Pancreatitis
- Previous gastrointestinal bleeding
caused by:
- Bleeding ulcers (peptic ulcer
disease)
- Inflammation of the stomach lining (gastritis)
- Sickle cell disease
- Thyroid or
parathyroid disease
- Urinary tract infections
