Question

A child with leukemia is to continue taking prednisone (Meticorten) at home. The nurse discovers that the child's sibling is home from school with chickenpox. What is the nurse's priority concern?

Answer 1

The correct answer would be - the child is on a threat of any type of disease especially contagious such as chickenpox.

Explanation:

Children with leukemia are immunosuppressed which means their immune system is not working properly and are prone to any disease that is contagious. Vaccines of the Chickenpox is a live virus that should not be given to any immunosuppressed child.

Meticorten or prednisone does not provide immunity to the chickenpox. A child with the immunosuppressed condition can not live in proximity to the chickenpox patient. Chickenpox is a disease that can be spread by air in the form of small droplets and infect other people.

Thus, the correct answer is - the child is on a threat of any type of disease especially contagious such as chickenpox.

Answer 2

An array of cancers, which generally initiates in the bone marrow and leads to high generations of unusual white blood cells is known as leukemia. These white blood cells that are not fully mature are known as leukemia cells.

In the given case, the priority for the nurse is to prevent the child with leukemia to come in contact with chickenpox virus, as chickenpox can be fatal to the individuals with leukemia.

It is essential for the children suffering from leukemia to prevent infections as they have a repressed immune system, while on treatment and are more vulnerable to infection.