Easy Bruising

Bruises occur as a result of blood leaking out of the blood vessels within the skin. Bruises are common in children when they go about their normal activities. They tend to fall while playing, run into each other or bump into furniture. Bruises that need worrying are those which occur spontaneously or that are out of proportion to the injury.

Abnormal bleeding can be caused by:

1. disorder of blood vessels (vascular disorders)
2. quantitative or qualititative problems of blood cells called platelets or
3. defective blood coagulation process

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Constitutional Delay in Growth and Puberty

What is normal puberty?

Puberty occurs when your body undergoes physical changes from being a child to an adult.
Puberty occurs over a number of years:

• Between the age of 8 and 13 years (average of 11 years) in girls.
• Between 9-14 years (average of 11.5 years) in boys.

Girls start puberty with breasts development. Other changes include pubic hair growth, growth spurt, and finally periodic bleed (menstruation). Menstruation should occur before the age of 16.

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UPDATE ON AVIAN INFLUENZA A (H7N9) IN CHINA

Affected places:

Eight (8) Provinces: Anhui, Fujian, Henan, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shandong and Zhejiang
Two (2) Municipalities: Beijing and Shanghai.

Number of cases:

To date, there are a total of 131 laboratory confirmed human cases with avian influenza A (H7N9) virus including 36 fatalities in China reported.

WHO does not advise special screening at points of entry with regard to this event, nor does it recommend that any travel or trade restrictions be applied.

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