At the National Children's Hospital, the number of children with seasonal flu is increasing at this time. Ms. Nguyen Thanh M (Ha Dong, Hanoi) is taking care of both children hospitalized with flu. The older child is 4 years old, the younger child is only 8 months old and was infected by her sister. Before that, both children had cough, runny nose, high fever and convulsions, and used fever-reducing medicine but it did not help.
Another case is patient Nguyen Minh H (14 months old, in Dien Bien) with continuous fever, was treated for 1 week at the local health facility but the condition did not improve. The family transferred the child to the National Children's Hospital, where the doctor diagnosed the child with flu and bronchopneumonia.
Dr. Do Thien Hai - Head of Internal Medicine Department, Center for Tropical Diseases (National Children's Hospital) - said that the winter-spring season with humidity and temperature is very favorable for viruses, especially influenza virus to develop. When children get the flu, their immune system is reduced, if parents do not know how to prevent and care for them, children are susceptible to secondary infections leading to other complications.
Common symptoms of flu patients are high fever, which can be continuously high fever of 39-40 degrees Celsius and does not respond to antipyretic drugs, inflammation of the upper respiratory tract such as: runny nose, cough, sore throat in older children, especially when examined, the throat is clearly red and inflamed, some children have bronchitis.
According to Dr. Hai, children with the flu will usually recover on their own after 3-5 days and do not need to be hospitalized. The main thing is to use fever-reducing medicine at home (only use paracetamol). If using other medicines, it must be prescribed by a medical staff. Families need to take good care of their children and clean their nose and throat with saline to avoid secondary infections with other bacteria.
When children are hospitalized, unnecessary contact such as too many visitors, bringing other pathogens to the child and bringing the flu virus into the community should be limited.
"Children are only indicated for hospitalization in cases where the flu causes pneumonia, or there is respiratory failure, difficulty breathing, fatigue, or severe respiratory infections, or the flu occurs in people with certain chronic diseases," Dr. Hai emphasized.
Doctors also recommend that Oseltamivir is not a mandatory drug for treating common seasonal flu and is only used in some severe flu cases. If the child is well cared for and has no secondary infection, absolutely do not arbitrarily use antibiotics for the child, to avoid the spread of antibiotic resistance.
Seasonal flu is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses, which is usually benign but can also lead to dangerous complications in some people, especially those with weak resistance or underlying diseases. Understanding these complications helps increase awareness of prevention and effective treatment.
In particular, air pollution caused by fine dust in Hanoi is becoming more serious. Fine dust particles are extremely small in size and can easily penetrate deep into the lungs, causing irritation to the respiratory tract mucosa, increasing the risk of infection and complications from the flu, especially in children with weak immune systems.
In addition, near Tet, when crowded activities such as festivals and shopping are common, children often attend crowded places and are easily exposed to sick people.
The most worrying complication of seasonal flu is pneumonia. Pneumonia caused by the influenza virus can occur suddenly, causing difficulty breathing and lack of oxygen. In severe cases, pneumonia can also be accompanied by secondary bacterial infections, causing life-threatening respiratory failure.
