I apologise, but man made/named diseases are myth........flu or cancer has been around since man walked the earth, the ones we are getting now all seem to be simply childhood stuff that people stick a fancy name on and claim as a new disease.........not good for real diseases or people who really need help.......sorry not helping, and not contributing the way you want me to
Do you know how many children die of diarrhea in the developing world? Due to dehydration. Obviously not the same as ScotiaLass's son, but uncontrollable vomiting will eventually have the same effect - if it goes on long enough he needs medical help for rehydration.
This condition has quite probably been around since humans walked the earth. The difference is that a couple of centuries ago in this country (or in many developing countries today) the kid would have died from the first episode, and it would likely have been put down to something they ate, rather than this condition.
One reason there appear to be many new diseases today is that medical science has advanced, and things that would have been lumped together under (say) something like 'dodgy stomach' (yes, I know that's not a medical term) can now be separated out into different conditions with different causes, and each having different ways of treating them (hopefully). There
is an element of big pharma hyping some conditions in an attempt to sell more drugs, but to lump everyone who doesn't have flu or cancer into a group with 'childhood stuff with a fancy name on' is crass and stupid.
You also seem to be equating 'childhood' with 'not serious'. The only reason we regard childhood diseases as not serious these days (erroneously in some cases) is because vaccination and medical treatments have vastly reduced the death rate from them. These days it is not the norm for a family to have a child die - it is not very long since losing at least one of your offspring in childhood was the norm.
So - ScotiaLass - hope you can ignore Dangermouse, and hope your lad is doing better.