Rawalpindi:Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) are still hitting the child population hard in this region of the country as the paediatrics departments operating in two of the three allied hospitals of the Rawalpindi Medical University (RMU) in the town including Benazir Bhutto Hospital and Holy Family Hospital have been receiving heavy influx of child patients with ARIs, the most common causes of both illness and mortality in children below five years of age.
Data collected by ‘The News’ has revealed that the incidences of colds, sore throat, cough, flu and pneumonia is continuously on the rise as well over 50 per cent of the total child patients visiting paediatrics departments at the HFH and BBH are with upper or lower respiratory tract infections while a significant number of child patients particularly below five years of age are visiting allied hospitals with triggered asthma which, according to health experts, is more alarming.
The data also reveals that nearly 10 per cent of the total child patients visiting allied hospitals are with lower respiratory tract infections including pneumonia, one of the top killers of children below five years of age that claims not less than 90000 lives in Pakistan every year.
Health experts say that the incidence of flu among child patients having asthma aggravates asthmatic problems and to avoid complications, parents must safeguard their children and infants from cold and getting wet. The spread of respiratory tract infections can be avoided by following simple preventive measures, said experts.
Children and infants should be protected from cold by using warm clothing to avoid incidences of upper respiratory tract infections including colds, runny nose, sore throat, cough and flu. Infants should be exclusively breastfed for at least the first six months of age to avoid pneumonia. To avoid pneumonia, children should be kept in clean environment and their rooms should be well ventilated.
Health experts say that parents must be aware of the fact that for protection from pneumonia, all children below five years of age must be administered pneumococcal vaccine and haemophilus influenzae type B (HIB) vaccine which is available at the allied hospitals under Expanded Program on Immunization. Administration of the measles vaccine is also a must for every child.
In case a child has missed any of the said vaccines, parents can take him or her to the allied hospitals where these vaccines are available for all children free of cost. It is important that upper respiratory tract infections are highly contagious and can be passed by tiny droplets produced during sneezing or coughing of infected persons or children and parents of infected children should take extra care to avoid spread of the infection. Experts believe that through prevention and in time management of pneumonia cases, more than 70 per cent of the deaths can be avoided.
