I'm trying to cut down on the amount of juice my children are drinking, preferring them to drink water.

Do you have any tips?

Children can get used to the sweet taste of drinks at an early age. Try watering down soft drinks such as squashes to, for example, one part squash to at least ten parts water.

Another good way to reduce the amount of sugar your child consumes is to reduce the number of sugary drinks they have.

If your child does have sugary drinks, it's better for them to drink them with meals. This can help reduce the damage to their teeth. Fruit juice contains lots of vitamins that are good for children's health. However, it also contains a kind of sugar that can damage teeth.

If your child drinks fruit juice, it's better for them to drink this at mealtimes too. The best drinks for children to have at any time are water and milk. This includes drinks between meals.

Water and milk don't contain added sugar that can damage your child's teeth. Milk also contains important vitamins and minerals, such as calcium.

Is it true that people can get infections from animals?

Although it's rare for an infection to be passed on in this way, it can happen. The medical name for infections that animals can pass to people is zoonoses.

You can catch an infection through direct and indirect contact with an animal. For example, it is possible to catch an infection if an infected animal bites or scratches you, you accidentally touch an infected animal's body fluids such as blood, saliva, urine or stools (faeces), you swallow food or drink contaminated with an infected animal's body fluids or you're bitten by an insect that has previously bitten an infected animal

Many types of animal can pass infections to humans, including:

€¢ pets like dogs, cats, birds, tortoises, hamsters, fish and horses

€¢ exotic pets like lizards, snakes and terrapins

€¢ farm animals like sheep, pigs, goats, cattle and poultry

€¢ wild animals, such as foxes, deer and bats

€¢ rodents, such as rats

€¢ insects, such as ticks and mosquitoes

You can reduce your risk of getting an infection from an animal by practising good personal hygiene and good food hygiene.

What are hives?

Urticaria - also known as hives, welts or nettle rash - is a raised, itchy rash that appears on the skin.

The rash can be on just one part of the body or be spread across large areas.

The affected area may change in appearance within 24 hours, and the rash will usually settle within a few days. If it clears completely within six weeks, it's known as acute urticaria.

Sometimes the rash can persist or come and go for more than six weeks, often over many years, although this is less common. Doctors refer to this as chronic urticaria.

Urticaria is a common condition. It's estimated that around 1 in 6 people will have it at some point in their lives.

Children are often affected by the condition, as well as women between 30 and 60 years of age, and people with a history of allergies.

Long-term urticaria is much less common, affecting around 1 in 1,000 people. Women are twice as likely to develop chronic urticaria as men.

Urticaria occurs when a trigger causes high levels of histamine and other chemical messengers to be released in the skin. These substances cause the blood vessels in the affected area of skin to open up (often resulting in redness or pinkness) and become leaky. This extra fluid in the tissues causes swelling and itchiness.

If an urticarial rash develops rapidly all over the body and is possible linked to an allergic reaction then emergency medical attention should be sought.This is particularly true if there is co existing breathing difficulty or difficulty swallowing.