Number of children hospitalized with influenza A is increasing, most of them have not been vaccinated

In the past 2 months, 9 out of 10 children who came to the Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Infectious Nutrition for examination due to fever at the Saint Paul General Hospital had influenza A. The number of children with complications requiring hospitalization has also increased.

5-month-old Pham Duy Nam in Xa Dan, Hanoi has influenza A with complications of pneumonia. Nguyen Thi Anh, the baby's mother, said: The baby was infected by a relative in the family.

“The baby caught the flu from the relatives who came to visit. Before that, the baby got a fever after getting vaccinated. The family thought it was just a side effect from the vaccination, but later the fever got so high that they took him to the hospital,” Ms. Anh said.

Baby Duy Nam is being asked about his health by the nurse.

According to Ms. Anh, when she was admitted to the hospital, her child was only coughing slightly, but after examination and X-ray, her lungs were solidified. The doctor diagnosed her with pneumonia and she had to be hospitalized immediately.

Another case is Le Quoc Bao, 5 years old in Cau Giay, Hanoi. Ms. Nguyen Vy - the child's mother said that Bao had been vaccinated against influenza since he was 2 years old, but since then, the family has not had him vaccinated again, unexpectedly catching influenza A from his classmates.

“When my child was born, I bought a vaccination package for the first two years of life, including seasonal flu, but after that package was used up, I stopped getting vaccinated. I thought that there was flu season every year and that this disease was normal, but I didn’t expect my child to have such a severe case this time.”

More than a week ago, after school in the afternoon, Bao had a fever of 39 degrees Celsius. Ms. Vy gave him fever-reducing medicine and cough syrup, and applied a cool compress, but the fever did not go down but got worse. Seeing the child lethargic and convulsing, the family panicked and took him to Xanh Pon General Hospital that night. After 3 days of intensive treatment, Bao's fever went down, and on the 5th day, it was finally gone. Bao is still hospitalized due to a persistent cough.

At the Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Infectious Nutrition, Saint Paul General Hospital, more than 60% of pediatric patients with influenza A out of the total number of infectious disease cases requiring hospitalization. Most of them are children under 5 years old and have not been vaccinated against influenza.

Speaking to VOV2 reporter, Dr. Nguyen Thi Hong Nhan - Head of the Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Infectious Nutrition, Xanh Pon General Hospital said: In the past 2 months, the number of children coming to the Department for examination due to fever has increased dramatically. The number of children having to be hospitalized for treatment has also increased.

“In the fall and winter, the virus can survive for hours in the environment, especially in cold weather and low humidity, so the rate of spread is higher. When the doctor has ordered hospitalization, it means there are complications, possibly respiratory, digestive, cardiovascular or neurological infections. But now mainly there are respiratory complications, children have lung damage and show signs of rapid breathing, respiratory obstruction, and more seriously, respiratory failure with cyanosis,” said Dr. Nguyen Thi Hong Nhan.

Also observing this year's flu season, Dr. Nguyen Thi Hong Nhan said that although the number of hospitalizations due to complications has increased, they are usually mild complications, not life-threatening. The reason is that families understand more about seasonal flu, have experience in handling their children when they get sick, and at the same time, this year's flu treatment drugs are more complete and more effective.

Most of the children who had to be hospitalized for treatment had not been vaccinated against the flu. Therefore, Dr. Nguyen Thi Hong Nhan recommends that children 6 months and older should continue to receive the vaccine.

“Currently, there are mainly two types of flu vaccines: influenza A H1N1 and H3N2. Cross-immunization vaccination has not been recorded. However, children can be protected against less severe types, helping to limit complications. Therefore, to best prevent the disease, children should be vaccinated,” Dr. Nguyen Thi Hong Nhan advised.

During flu season, the weather changes, the body is vulnerable, the respiratory epithelium and protective barrier are not good, so children are susceptible to infection. Therefore, to prevent the disease, in addition to flu vaccination, parents should pay attention to keeping warm, supplementing nutrition to strengthen the immune system, and washing hands regularly for children. When knowing that their child has the flu, parents should consult a doctor about whether to give their child Tamilflu because this is a prescription drug, taking medicine arbitrarily will make children susceptible to drug resistance.

vov.vn

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/so-tre-mac-cum-a-nhap-vien-gia-tang-phan-lon-chua-tiem-vaccine-post885847.html