Pediatrics is the branch of medicine concerned with the treatment and prevention of disease in
infants and children. Pediatricians generally provide
medical care for children from infancy through adolescence. Pediatrics arose as a medical specialty because many
diseases and other medical
problems occur exclusively in children or tend to be more prevalent among them. In addition, children and adults exhibit major anatomical, physiological, and behavioral differences. Children also change rapidly, presenting characteristic medical problems at each stage of development. In infants, for example, the pediatrician is
likely to encounter
infectious diseases, inherited defects, birth injuries, or problems arising from prematurity, whereas in older children medical problems are more likely to arise from infectious diseases and accidents.
The prevention and treatment of infectious diseases is a major part of pediatric practice because children are much more
susceptible to such diseases than are adults. This vulnerability arises from absent or incomplete immunity to certain diseases and the greater opportunity for contagion provided by the concentration of children in schools and playgrounds. Pediatricians routinely immunize infants and young children against the more serious childhood infections, such as diphtheria, poliomyelitis, tetanus, and whooping cough. Children are also more susceptible to nutritional deficiencies because of their rapid growth.
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