In the IEES Quito Sur Hospital there is an increase in children and adolescents infected with coronavirus. 30% of pediatric patients are cared for in this health home.
Daniel Espinel, pediatric emergency coordinator, indicated that 1,500 minors were reported in the last month, that is, about 500 more than what was registered months ago.
He said that there are minors who have been admitted with more serious symptoms, that is, intense fever and general malaise. Some were even transferred to intensive care due to symptoms of intense lung involvement.
Medium complexity cases receive outpatient treatment at home or remain hospitalized for a couple of days.
Until last April 16, in the Covid-19 Pediatrics area, six infants were housed and three were waiting for confirmation of the tests in the Emergency room, but on Wednesday there were 21.
For Espinel, the increase in cases in children is due to their greater exposure to the virus.
He commented that, at the beginning of the pandemic, this segment of the population remained in confinement, but, little by little, they have been leaving and are seen in supermarkets, parks and other public spaces.
He maintained that he no longer takes care of them as before and they are even seen on the streets without masks or wearing them incorrectly.
Until Friday, the percentage of infected was 6.3% of a total of 355,964 cases nationwide, between 0 and 19 years old. The figure is higher than that reported on the same date in January, with 5.9%, according to reports from the Ministry of Health.
On April 6, the Constitutional Court, in its report on the pandemic and the measures adopted to stop it, indicated that there are unexpected effects in the age group 0 to 19 years, in which more than 3,500 boys, girls and boys teenagers are hospitalized.
Joanna Acebo, a pediatrician at the Quito Metropolitan Hospital, said that if there are more cases of infants, it is due to greater exposure to the virus, especially when there are new variants.
More than 20 pediatric patients in serious condition have been hospitalized in that health home since the start of the pandemic. Meanwhile, the less serious are treated by Telemedicine.
In the case of children, the most intense problems appear when they develop the multisystemic inflammatory syndrome that appears about four weeks after a coronavirus infection and is registered with high temperature, stomach pain, skin lesions, conjunctivitis, swollen glands, among others.
Fernando Aguinaga, president of the Pediatric Society, considered that it is time to talk about immunization in children.
Be the first to comment