Smallpox attacked with redoubled power. Doctors are alarming that more and more children are ill. – This season we admit to the hospital much more than usual children with complications of smallpox. It is possible that this is due to a specific variant of the virus, says pediatrician and infectious diseases specialist Dr. Lidia Stopyra from the Żeromski Hospital in Krakow.
- Coronavirus pandemic seems to be fading away, but other infectious diseases, especially those affecting children, are making themselves felt
- More and more children go to hospitals with complications of smallpox, in a serious condition, with encephalitis and sepsis – says pediatrician Dr. Lidia Stopyra
- COVID-19 is also not letting go. This is especially true of young patients from Ukraine
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Smallpox attacks – life-threatening complications
Dr. Lidia Stopyra emphasized that among hospitalized young patients there are life-threatening cases – children with encephalitis and sepsis.
– Most likely, this year’s variant of the pox virus is more likely to cause complications. We have been observing it for many years – it happens that in one season smallpox causes fewer complications, in another – more – said Dr. Stopyra, who heads the Department of Infectious Diseases and Paediatrics at the Stefan Żeromski in Krakow.
In addition to children with chickenpox, the Żeromski hospital also receives small patients with influenza, viral infections of the gastrointestinal tract, and COVID-19. – We are accepting children with COVID-19 all the time, but compared to what it was, you can say that the situation has calmed down. The condition of these children is not serious, the doctor noted.
- Read also: Smallpox in children – symptoms, treatment and course of the disease. How long does smallpox last?
Out of 45 beds in the ward, 40 are occupied, including a dozen or so by covid patients – including several children of refugees from Ukraine. – At the beginning, after Our Country’s aggression against Ukraine, even half of the unit was occupied by refugee children. Now it’s about a quarter, including children with COVID-19, said Dr. Stopyra.
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Refugee children are most often referred to the Żeromski hospital from hospital emergency departments in various parts of the city. Coronavirus patients are hospitalized with high fever, dehydration and dyspnoea associated with pneumonia. But most patients are hospitalized for other infections. – These children are often under extreme stress, exhausted and weakened due to the conditions in which they live. This makes the disease more severe, explained the pediatrician and infectious disease specialist.
Vaccinations need to be completed
In the current epidemic situation, Dr. Stopyra drew attention to the need to verify vaccinations. Parents should complete any vaccinations that their child has not yet received as soon as possible. Adults themselves should also verify their vaccinations. The preventive vaccination program covers the age group up to 19 years of age. Later, vaccinations are recommended, and therefore paid.
– Every 8 or 10 years we should repeat vaccinations against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough. People over 40 who have had a single dose of measles vaccination in the past may have lost their immunity. It would also be necessary to verify, among others whether you have taken the hepatitis A vaccine – mentioned Dr. Lidia Stopyra.
- Find out more: What happens when an adult gets measles, smallpox, rubella, mumps?
Speaking about chicken pox “characteristic of this season”, the doctor reminded that vaccinations are effective against this disease. The chickenpox vaccine is not compulsory but recommended. The cost of one dose is about PLN 270. The effectiveness of the two-dose preparation exceeds 90 percent. Free vaccinations are valid for children up to the age of 12, who, inter alia, have impaired immunity, stay in nursing and care facilities, in orphanages; and also children attending nurseries, but not kindergartens.
Chickenpox is highly contagious. The virus spreads by touch and by airborne droplets. The main symptoms of the disease are an itchy maculo-vesicular rash all over the body, fever, headaches and muscle aches, and swollen lymph nodes. In 2-6 percent. serious complications may occur in cases – most often encephalitis, acute thrombocytopenia, bacterial skin infections.
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- The whooping cough epidemic is coming. It is more contagious than influenza and smallpox