Poor jaundice management can cause brain damage, paediatrician warns
Poor jaundice management can cause brain damage, paediatrician warns
Jaundice
By Bushrah Yusuf-Badmus
Ilorin, April 25, 2018 (NAN) A consultant Paediatrician, Dr Gbemisola Boyede, has warned that poor management of jaundice in newborns could result in brain damage which could manifest in different ailments.
Boyede told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday that when jaundice is not properly managed in newborns, it can cause what is called Kernicterus.
”Kernicterus in simple term means brain damage from jaundice which can lead to other problems in the immediate and future.
”The brain damage can manifest as cerebral palsy, deafness, intellectual disability, teeth problems etc.
”Most of our children in Nigeria suffer deaths and disabilities because of late detection of jaundice and presentation to health facilities.
”Jaundice is the yellowish discoloration of the skin, sclera (white) of the eyes and it is the commonest condition in a Newborn.
”In fact two out of every three newborns born at normal time will have jaundice while four out of every five newborns born prematurely will have jaundice,” Boyede said.
She said the most important thing was to detect Jaundice when it is present in a newborn, because many babies have died from Jaundice because no one detected it.
”It is very important to check for jaundice if the baby is discharged from the hospital before 48-72 hours of your baby’s life.
”This is because most jaundice develop after two to three days of life and most new mums don’t know how to detect Jaundice.
”By the time the babies are really yellow or the white of the eyes is very yellow, the Jaundice is already high.
”But as paediatricians, we look for Jaundice in the skin in the white light or natural light.
”In fact paediatricians too can miss it just by relying on looking, in many places routine screening for Jaundice is done at 24 hours of life especially now that we have Transcutaneous Billirubinometer with which jaundice can be detected without taking blood samples.
”But we will go ahead to take blood if the tranbilirubinometer SB is high enough for us to worry.
”So it is most important if you leave the hospital before 24-48 hours, to please go back in two days just for them to check the baby for jaundice.
”Sometimes the baby may have mild jaundice which is physiological but parents should never assume before the Serum Bilirubin (SB) is checked,” the paediatrician said.
She stressed that the popular myths on jaundice should be discarded to avoid unnecessary loss of lives.
”There are lot of myths and dangerous beliefs about Jaundice that are based on ignorance contributing to these sad outcomes in our country.
”For example, there is no correlation between yellow clothes and Jaundice ; No cause from Yellow cloth but maybe the reflection of the cloth into the eyes ,there is wisdom in it, but it is not the cloth that causes jaundice.
”Also, giving newborns pawpaw water to drink has no basis for treatment of jaundice or prevention.
”There are many different causes of jaundice and not one treatment for all, more so, the newborn organs kidneys and livers are not yet mature to handle these substances.
”Although, early morning sun can be used for treating jaundice, but the SB level must be checked first to ensure that it is a level that can be handled at home with early morning sun.
”Also, glucose water and ampiclox are not treatment of Jaundice in the Newborn, ampiclox can only be prescribed if infection is confirmed, it is not routine treatment,” Boyede said. (NAN)
BAY/MZA
Edited by Maharazu Ahmed