Dengue, chest infection increase among children

Vasudha Zora | NT

Bengaluru: In the post-Covid scenario, there has been a surge in various viral and bacterial diseases, especially among children. The number of patients requiring hospitalisation, and in some cases ICU admission, has also gone up.

News Trail spoke to an expert to understand these remodelled ailments and ways to curb it. Dr Sujatha Thyagarajan, Senior Consultant PICU (pediatric intensive care unit) and Pediatrics at Aster RV Hospital, said that cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome was prevalent in the first wave of Covid, second wave saw rise in cases of acute Covid cases and the third wave saw more of neurological and cardiac involvements, but interestingly post Covid immune disorders have taken a sudden hike which can be one of the repercussions of the post vaccine reaction.

After the cessation of Covid waves, children are facing uncommon high fevers, chest infections, dengue, RSV(Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection) and coughs. As per BBMP data, 3,624 cases of high fever with cough were reported from January till October of 2022.

A normal case of dengue that takes 5-6 days of fever and depleting platelets, now last for just two days, but is much more severe. It attacks the brain and causes destructive disabilities alongside sudden loss of life in some cases.

As per reports 5,885 dengue cases have been reported throughout Bengaluru. The nature of RSV has taken a shift too; 1,121 cases have been reported so far with patients complaining of high grade fever. Earlier this year TB started forming a trend in all age groups, but affected the younger generation at large.

Many children were diagnosed with diabetic ketoacidosis, neurological and cardiac related issues throughout the Covid run. In the last three months due to the fluctuating weather conditions and constantly emerging evolution, patients complain of viral chest infections. Hence, the sale of inhalers and nebulizers have gone up dramatically.

Some even need ICU monitoring and steroids to recover. Steroids such as Prednisolone is used in cases related to wheezing and is part of the standard treatment and intravenous shots are provided in cases of severity and discontinuation of oral medication, depending upon the health of the patient.

Viruses like H1N1(Swine flu), RSV, Human Metapneumovirus, Boka virus are the most trending ailments in children since January 2022. “Even after getting vaccinated, children have been coming to hospital with coinfections with more severity than normal in most cases.

This is what I have noticed and I am currently studying more about it, most of them based on the newer pattern of some of these diseases,” said Dr Sujatha. “I think there should be some awareness about these diseases because they may not result in death but can rupture the body in future, we are far from booster shots and surviving on antibiotics which don’t come handy in dire situations, early diagnosis has been deemed helpful in all cases,” she added.