On June 16, information from Thanh Hoa Children's Hospital said that in recent days, the number of pediatric patients hospitalized due to digestive diseases has increased sharply. In the Department of Gastroenterology alone, the hospital is treating more than 80 pediatric patients, of which nearly 60% have acute diarrhea due to Rotavirus.
According to doctors, the number of cases increased by more than 50% compared to before summer. Worryingly, many children are hospitalized in a state of severe dehydration, electrolyte disorders, and even respiratory failure due to being brought to medical facilities late.
Many parents are also subjective when children have symptoms of fever, vomiting, and frequent diarrhea. Some people think that children only have common digestive disorders or due to teething, so they buy medicine to treat at home.
There are cases where parents limit children from drinking water, eating fruits or arbitrarily using diarrhea-controlling medicine, causing the disease to progress more severely.
Not only at Thanh Hoa Children's Hospital, many hospitals in the province such as Ha Trung General Hospital, Sam Son General Hospital, Medic Hai Tien General Hospital also recorded an increase of 30-50% in the number of children with acute diarrhea due to Rotavirus in the past two weeks.
At Ha Trung General Hospital, more than 40% of pediatric patients being treated in the Department of Pediatrics have digestive diseases, mainly acute diarrhea due to Rotavirus.
According to doctors, the disease can occur all year round but usually increases during the transitional season and summer. Children often start with symptoms of vomiting, fever, then diarrhea many times a day, body fatigue, lethargy.
The disease can occur at many ages, most commonly in children from 6 months to under 5 years old. If not detected and treated promptly, children may experience severe dehydration, electrolyte disorders, affecting health.
Doctors recommend that parents absolutely do not arbitrarily give children antibiotics, diarrhea medicine or industrial soft drinks without a doctor's prescription. Using medicine incorrectly can disrupt the intestinal microbiome, making the disease worse.
Rotavirus is mainly transmitted through the digestive tract and has the ability to spread quickly in the community. To prevent the disease, parents need to feed children cooked food, drink boiled water, ensure food safety and hygiene; wash hands regularly with soap for children and caregivers; clean utensils, toys, and children's living environment.
When children have symptoms of high fever, frequent vomiting, continuous diarrhea, thirst, sunken eyes, fatigue or lethargy, parents need to take their children to a medical facility for examination and timely treatment.
Experts also recommend that Rotavirus vaccination is an effective measure to help reduce the risk of disease and limit severe complications in young children.
