Health department issues advisory with tips to stay safe from viruses

 Stress on need to protect children with congenital disorders from catching infection

SUBHAJOY ROY | TT  | 02.03.23 : Keep children away from crowded places; do not send a sick child to school; cover your face while coughing or sneezing; an adult with fever and cough should not go near children, and elderly and pregnant women.

The advisory also stressed the need to protect children with congenital disorders from catching  infection. A doctor said such children have compromised immunity and are always more vulnerable to infections than other kids.

“Any viral infection can cause rapid deterioration of their health, so their guardians should be extra careful about them,” said a doctor.These are some of the points mentioned in an advisory the state health department issued on Wednesday following a spurt in respiratory infections among children in West Bengal.

Mihir Sarkar, a professor at the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital, said many of the children with severe disease resulting from viral infections have congenital disorders. 

A number of children have died in West Bengal in the last few days after contracting viral infections and suffering from fever, cough and respiratory illness. 

The advisory, issued in Bengali, started with the statement that infections in the throat and chest caused by viruses are common during this time of the year. Those infections, it said, are now being witnessed across the state in greater numbers.

The advisory asked people not to panic but follow some basic measures. Among the children who are suffering from severe illness, many are below 2 years, the official said.

The advisory asked adults and children to wash their hands frequently. It said anyone entering home  should wash their hands before approaching a child.

The Telegraph has reported that doctors are urging people to follow the Covid protocol — such as wearing masks in crowded places and washing hands frequently — to stay safe from the current spate of viral infections.

Chandramouli Bhattacharya, an infectious disease expert at Peerless Hospital, said the viruses that generally cause fever and cough during this time of the year — such as adenovirus, influenza virus and rhinovirus — transmit in the same manner as the Covid virus.

“So the measures that were taken during the Covid pandemic to prevent infection should be effective in the current situation, too,” he said. “These (the current) viruses also spread as aerosols, they are airborne. Wash your hands. Do not touch your nose with unclean hands.”

The health department’s advisory urged people not to spit here and there. One should cover his or her face while coughing or sneezing. 

The advisory also mentioned that if there is phlegm in the chest, one should not have cough syrup that has an antihistamine. 

Prabhas Prasun Giri, a paediatrician at the Institute of Child Health, said no parent should start giving their child a cough syrup without consulting a doctor. “The prescription of cough syrup depends on various factors. One should not give a cough syrup to a child without a doctor’s consent,” he said. 

Children, elderly and pregnant women are also immuno-compromised, said doctors, which is why anyone with symptoms like fever and cough should stay away from them so long the symptoms persist.

ADVISORY

■ Wash your hands with soap

■ Stay away from children, and elderly and pregnant women if you have fever and cough

■ Keep children away from crowded places 

■ Do not send sick children to school

■ Cover your mouth while coughing or sneezing

■ Be extra protective about children with congenital disorders