Changing seasons, epidemics "attack" children

A child with influenza A who was treated late at Hai Duong Children's Hospital had a fever, rash, and itching all over his body.

RSV and influenza A viruses are rampant.

On the morning of April 7, the Respiratory Department of Hai Duong Children's Hospital had 82 children being treated, of which about 50% were infected with RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), a sharp increase compared to before. According to the treating doctor at the department, recently, due to the influence of the weather, the rate of children being hospitalized for treatment has increased. The change of seasons is also a favorable condition for the RSV virus to spread, causing an epidemic and strong outbreaks.

On the evening of April 2, Mr. Vu Dinh Duc in My Hao town (Hung Yen) had to take his 3-year-old child to Hai Duong Children's Hospital for emergency treatment. The child had symptoms such as runny nose, cough, fever... In particular, the child had a high fever, and was given medicine at home but it did not go down. After examination, the doctors diagnosed the child with RSV virus, causing pneumonia. "After timely treatment, the child's fever has now stopped and his health is much more stable. He only has a stuffy nose and a cough, but he eats well and is playful," said Mr. Duc.

Influenza A is also a disease that is spreading rapidly in the community, especially among young children. Currently, the Department of Infectious Diseases, Hai Duong Children's Hospital has about 50 inpatients, of which more than 30 patients have influenza A. This year, this disease has increased sharply, in addition to the seasonal weather factor, but also because the Covid-19 epidemic has been controlled, people pay less attention to disease prevention when coming into contact with crowded places. At the Department of Infectious Diseases, Hai Duong Children's Hospital, there was a case of late treatment that caused the child to have a high fever, purple rash all over the body, itchy rash...

Similarly, at the Department of Neonatal Pediatrics of the Provincial General Hospital, there are currently nearly 50 children receiving inpatient treatment, an increase compared to before. Most of the children have respiratory diseases due to the effects of the weather, many of whom are infected with the RSV virus.

According to records at the Children's Hospital and the Provincial General Hospital, in addition to the two epidemics above that are "attacking" children at this time, there are also children coming to treat diseases such as chickenpox, hand, foot and mouth disease and some diseases related to the digestive tract such as acute diarrhea caused by rotavirus... These are also diseases that easily arise in children when the weather changes seasons, hot and cold erratically like now.

Many children infected with RSV virus are being treated at the Respiratory Department, Hai Duong Children's Hospital

Home health care

Specialist Doctor I Tran Van Huan, Head of the Department of Neonatology, Hai Duong Children's Hospital, said that the department currently has about 20 newborns infected with RSV. This disease mostly causes pneumonia or bronchiolitis, which can easily progress to severe in patients under 3 months of age. Young patients are prone to difficulty breathing, respiratory failure, and have a higher rate of hospitalization.

Influenza A is a respiratory disease. The most common symptoms of influenza A are respiratory tract infections, fever, and persistent high fever that is difficult to reduce. Patients have wheezing coughs, difficulty breathing, and may have headaches and body aches. The disease can easily progress to severe stages in people under 5 years old, especially in immunocompromised patients, who have recurrent infections in a short period of time. Acute influenza A progresses very quickly, can cause severe respiratory failure, and even death within 48 hours if not detected early and treated promptly.

According to doctors' recommendations, to prevent diseases for children during this season, adults need to pay attention to disease prevention at home for children. The most important thing is to clean teeth, nose, throat and ensure daily hygiene. Ensure children have adequate nutrition. Avoid letting children come into contact with crowded places to limit infection. Next, it is necessary to fully vaccinate children, at the right age, at the right time.

When children have unusual symptoms such as cough, difficulty breathing, fever, poor feeding... they need to go to a medical facility for immediate examination and should not self-treat at home, which can easily lead to unpredictable consequences.

THANH DUC