Signs of very dangerous illness

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You do not need to wait until you have one of these problems to go to the hospital. However, if you have been waiting and you have any of the following problems, do anything in your power to get to a hospital.

• Loss of large amounts of blood from anywhere in the body
• Coughing up blood
• Marked blueness of lips and nails (if it is new)
• Great difficulty in breathing; does not improve with rest
• The person cannot be wakened (unresponsive)
• The person is so weak he faints when he stands up
• A day or more without being able to urinate
• A day or more without being able to drink any liquids
• Heavy vomiting or severe diarrhea that lasts for more than one day or more than a few hours in babies
• Black stools like tar, or vomit with blood or feces
• Strong, continuous stomach pains with vomiting in a person who does not have diarrhea and cannot have a bowel movement
• Any strong continuous pain that lasts for more than 3 days
• Stiff neck with arched back, with or without a stiff jaw
• More than one fit (convulsion) in someone with fever or serious illness
• High fever (above 102°F) that cannot be brought down or that lasts more than 4 days
• Weight loss over an extended time
• Blood in the urine
• Sores that keep growing and do not go away with treatment
• A lump in any part of the body that keeps getting bigger
• Problems with pregnancy and childbirth:
  • Any bleeding during pregnancy
  • Swollen face and trouble seeing in the last months
  • Long delay once the waters have broken and labor has begun
  • Severe bleeding

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 Adapted by A. Grace Keller from 
 David Werner: WHERE THERE IS NO DOCTOR
 © 1973–2004 Hesperian Foundation
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