Children’s Health

Stirling Central Health Clinic follows The National Immunisation Program (NIP) Schedule, which provides a best practice approach to ensuring your child is immunised to prevent illnesses such as chickenpox, whooping cough, hepatitis B, tetanus, diphtheria and influenza. These immunisations are given at specific times throughout your life. The immunisations range from birth through to adulthood.

As of 1 July 2020

Immunisations are recommended at:

• Birth (Hospital)
• 6-8 Weeks (GP)
• 4 Months (GP)
• 6 Months(GP)
• 12 Months (GP)
• 18 Months (GP)
• 4 Years (GP)
• 12-13 years (School program)
• 14- 16 years (School program)

Every child with asthma should have their own written asthma action plan to reduce the rate of visits to acute care facilities, the number of school days missed and night-time waking and improves symptoms.

A written asthma action plan should include all the following:

• a list of your child’s usual medicines (names of medicines, doses, when to take each dose) – including treatment for related conditions such as allergic rhinitis
• clear instructions on what to do in all the following situations:
  • when asthma is getting worse (e.g. when needing more reliever than usual, waking up with asthma, more symptoms than usual, asthma is interfering with usual activities)
  • when asthma symptoms get substantially worse (e.g. when needing reliever again within 3 hours, experiencing increasing difficulty breathing, waking often at night with asthma symptoms)
  • during an asthma emergency.
• instructions on when and how to get medical care (including contact telephone numbers)
• the name and contact details of the child’s emergency contact person (e.g. parent)
• the name of the person writing the action plan, and the date it was issued.

Stirling Central Health Clinic offers a Healthy Kids Check, which aims to gather health information, identify health problems and promote healthy lifestyle in conjunction with the 4-Year-old vaccinations.

If you have any health and development concerns about your child, this is the perfect opportunity to discuss these with your doctor and the nurse. At this visit, we will check your child’s hearing and vision, development and growth, teeth and dental health and immunisations, and talk to you about your child’s developmental milestones.

Adolescence (10-19 years) is a unique and formative time. Multiple physical, emotional and social changes, including exposure to poverty, abuse, or violence, can make adolescents vulnerable to mental health problems. Promoting psychological well-being and protecting adolescents from adverse experiences and risk factors that may impact their potential to thrive are critical for their well-being during adolescence and for their physical and mental health in adulthood. If you have concerns regarding your own or your child’s mental health, book a long appointment with your GP.

During your six-week baby health check, your baby will have several tests and a full physical examination.

This visit is used to monitor how your child is growing and to check whether certain conditions are present so they can be treated.

Your nurse or doctor will check or discuss your child’s hearing, vision, development, height, weight and head circumference growth, and will be happy to discuss the results with you.

The 2-month immunisations are given during this visit.

Allergies happen when your child’s immune system reacts to an allergen.

Symptoms of a mild or moderate allergic reaction include rash, swelling, tingling mouth or lips, sore stomach, vomiting, hay fever and asthma.

Signs of anaphylaxis include difficulty breathing, a tight throat, a persistent cough and fainting. Seek urgent medical attention.

If you think your child has an allergy, start by talking to your GP.

Most people will have an infectious (communicable) disease in their lifetime, such as the common cold or a stomach bug. These are usually mild and only last for a few days.

But some cases can be more serious. In Australia:

• in 2015-16, nearly 400,000 people were hospitalised as a result of infection with a communicable disease
• communicable diseases caused about 6,300 deaths in 2015

While the majority of communicable diseases are mild, it is important that steps are taken to prevent, monitor and respond to communicable diseases in Australia. Doing so helps reduce the risk of communicable diseases pose to our health.

Find out how the government monitors and responds to the COVID-19 pandemic, how you can help stop the spread of the virus in Australia and what to do if you have symptoms. We also report the latest case numbers, official medical advice and information on treatment.

https://www.health.gov.au/health-topics/communicable-diseases

Just as children are not little adults, their medical and surgical diagnosis is not equivalent to that of an adult. Differences in anatomy, diseases affecting children and the appropriate therapies make the surgical care of children confusing and tense. Even within paediatric care, the extensive changes children undergo as they develop from neonates to adolescents causes different care to be required at different stages. Our general practitioners are experienced in diagnosing and treating children, and may refer to a specialist to ensure the best treatment for your child.

Please let our reception staff know if your baby or child has a fever and/or is unwell. We will always strive to see unwell children on the same day. In an emergency, always call 08 8370 9777.