Viral & Bacterial Illnesses

Winter is the perfect time to give your kids immunity a helping hand.

As more people head outdoors to garden during the warmer months, there is a corresponding risk of contracting two soil-borne diseases...

Discover what a decongestant is, what they are used for and how they work...

Meningococcal is a rare but potentially deadly and devastating disease, with infants and teens most at risk.

There are several types of hepatitis. They have letters for their names: Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C. They all affect your liver. H..

In New Zealand, 3 out of every 20 people carry the bacteria responsible for Meningococcal disease in their nasal passages.

Chicken pox is a common childhood disease caused by the varicella virus. It causes small itchy blisters to form on the skin and also makes people fe..

Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV is not a new virus, but in fact a very common, very contagious virus that infects the respiratory tract. It can ..

Whooping cough is caused by a bacteria called Bordetella pertussis that infects the lungs and airways. It's very contagious...

Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is a viral illness most common in children under the age of 10. It seems to be seasonal and often occurs in the ..

There will be many parents familiar with the seal-like bark of croup and its alarming tendency to hit children in the early hours of the morning. Wh..

With the latest measles outbreak people are asking their local pharmacists questions about measles: How do I catch it? What are the symptoms ..

Shingles is a painful skin rash caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox. Anyone who has had chicken pox could get shingles.

Meningitis is inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain & spinal cord, & can strike swiftly and with devastating effects.

Shingles is a disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox. Shingles affects the nerve endings...

Chicken pox, measles, mumps, rubella, slap cheek, meningitis...

Commonly, sore throats are viral, resulting from the common cold, glandular fever, measles, chicken pox or whooping cough.

Prior to the invention of antibiotics pneumonia killed one third of its victims, and even today, around 5% of pneumonia patients will die...

Herpes doesn’t deserve the upset it causes. Four out of five New Zealanders have the herpes simplex virus.