You often hear people saying they are allergic to dust. But did you know that it’s hardly dust they are allergic to? Allergies are caused by tiny dust mites that you cannot see with your naked eye. Dust mites settle on carpets, curtains and cuddly toys and other house furnishing. But their favourite places are beds, where you mostly…

In Kenya, Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT) services are available in all public health facilities free of charge or at a minimal cost. Despite that, not all women receive the full benefit. A number of expectant women refuse to take the HIV test while others fail to return to the health…

Many mothers say that despite having many children, each pregnancy is unique. And upon delivery, the babies take on their own personality. So, how come one child will be very neat and responsible while the other is carefree and clumsy? Is there an explanation to this contrast or is behaviour engraved in the genetic code? Apparently, the sequence in which…

‘Fire! Fire!’- Two words that can turn a peaceful event into complete pandemonium. As much as all fire notices read, ‘In the event of a fire, don’t panic,’ this advice would readily fly out the window, if the dreaded situation occurs. Just talking about fire is enough to give one the chills, but you can…

Sinuses are air spaces in the bones of the face around the nose and they are usually moist. Babies have sinuses. However, they are usually not well developed. These air spaces are in four sets located in the brain, forehead, behind the nasal passages and cheekbones and have a lining of a mucus layer and…

At the tender age of one, Fadhili was snoring abnormally loud both during the day and at night. This worried his mother, Lucy Gichia. He had a condition referred to as Adenoids. However, when she decided to seek help, the doctor reassured Fadhili’s mother, Lucy, that the problem was common and it would disappear as…

Helping him clear it A nose full of mucus is nasty to all, but more so to babies below two years because they must breathe through the nose, which they have no ability to clear. A stuffy nose is caused by the common cold or allergic reactions like asthma and sinusitis that inflame blood vessels,…

The sight of blood-can be scary even to the strongest of us. Children too get scared of nose bleeding. The truth is most nose-bleeds are actually not as bad as they look, and a panicky child will only make the bleeding worse. Most nosebleeds occur in the front part of the nose and last only a few…