On December 9, Pengpai News reporters met with Cao Qing, director of the Department of Infection of the National Children's Medical Center (Shanghai) and Shanghai Jiaotong University Medical College Affiliated to answer hot issues of concern to parents.
Cao Qing, Director of the Infection Department of Children's Medical Center Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University Medical College Photo provided by the interviewee
The Paper: What are the symptoms of children after they are infected with The new crown ? Under what circumstances do I need to go to the hospital for treatment?
Cao Qing: Children with COVID-19 infection mainly manifests in upper respiratory tract infection of , which rarely affects the lungs. Some children may have vomiting, diarrhea and other symptoms, while some children may have convulsions and other symptoms in the case of high fever. If there are no complications, the course of the disease is usually about 1 week.
Most children have mild symptoms after infection, and can heal themselves within a few days through symptomatic treatment. In order to avoid cross-infection during medical treatment, for children who only have fever and other symptoms are not serious, parents can take care of themselves at home first and choose some antipyretic, cough-relieving and diarrhea-relieving drugs based on the symptoms. You can also consult and dispense medicine through Internet hospitals to minimize going out.
If the following conditions occur, it indicates that the child's disease may be progressing. It is recommended that parents take their children to the hospital in time:
1. The high fever does not subside, or the fever has been repeated for more than 3 days, or the body temperature is lower than 35℃;
2. The voice is hoarse, severe cough, shortness of breath, wheezing, pale or bluish complexion, and the pulse oxygen is ≤93%;
3. Chest or abdominal pain;
4. Dizziness or intention Confusion or a significant change in mental state;
5. Convulsion occurs;
6. Repeated vomiting and continuous inability to eat;
7. A large amount of diarrhea and reduced urine output;
8. Children with underlying diseases (hematologic chemotherapy, transplantation, immunodeficiency, congenital heart disease , acute attack period of chronic diseases, etc.);
9. Other situations where you think your child suddenly changes.
The Paper: What is the difference between children infected with the new coronavirus and adults? Could the condition be more serious?
Cao Qing: Currently, from a clinical point of view, most children have mild symptoms after infection, and can be healed within a few days through symptomatic treatment. The proportion of severe COVID-19 cases in children is very low.
During the 2022 epidemic lockdown in Shanghai, Shanghai Children's Medical Center is responsible for the treatment of children infected with the new coronavirus in Pudong . Statistics from the hospital during the same period showed that 90% of children were mild or asymptomatic infected with . Most of them heal themselves after symptomatic support treatment.
. Among the new coronavirus children admitted to our hospital, 50% are under 3 years old and have not received the new coronavirus vaccine . However, this group did not show severe symptoms of new coronavirus, all of which are low fever or symptoms of respiratory infection .
Compared with adults, children may experience convulsions after high fever, which requires special attention. Once a high fever convulsion occurs, you need to go to a medical institution for treatment in time.
The Paper: For children, what medicines can parents always keep at home to prevent or improve their children's immunity ?
Cao Qing: can always keep some antipyretic drugs at home. When the temperature of children is higher than 38.5℃, you can use ibuprofen and acetaminophen to reduce fever. For children with a history of fever convulsions, it is recommended to take oral antipyretic drugs around 38.3℃.
In addition, you can prepare some cough medicines. For children without sputum and dry cough, you can choose antitussive drugs such as dextromethorphan . If children have phlegm in their throats and are difficult to cough up, you can choose phlegm-reducing drugs such as ambroxol and carboxystamp , which can help children relieve phlegm.
In addition, for children with diarrhea symptoms, Montmorillonite San can be used to stop diarrhea, and oral rehydration salt is also used to supplement electrolytes to prevent dehydration.
The Paper: Once a family member is infected with the new crown, what should he pay attention to during his home quarantine?
Cao Qing: patients should live alone, try to use the bathroom alone, try to avoid contact with their co-occupied people, strengthen ventilation in the room, and do a good job of wiping, mopping, washing and disinfection in the home environment. Parents who care for children should take personal protection, try to ventilate the room, wear masks correctly, wash hands frequently, and wear gloves when touching children's vomit and excrement.
In addition, you can prepare a finger-clip pulse oxygen meter at home to facilitate monitoring of the child's blood oxygen saturation and detect changes in the condition in a timely manner.
The Paper: Do children of young age need to receive the new crown vaccine? What age is better to get vaccinated?
Cao Qing: In China, the vaccination age of the new crown vaccine is over 3 years old. Children over 3 years old can try to get vaccinated as much as possible, because all children and teenagers may have to go to schools and kindergartens. The classroom is often in a confined space. Once such a space is infected, the virus is very spreading.
But it must also be noted that some children are not suitable for vaccination, such as repeated allergic diseases, or children with tumors in the acute onset of chronic diseases, or in the chemotherapy period, I do not recommend vaccination. Vaccination with
can be said to be active immunity. In addition, the method of passive immunity of can be used to improve human immunity. Passive immunity is generally recommended to promptly inoculate gamma globulin within 48 hours after contacting the new crown infected person. Gaseous globulin contains some antibodies, which can play a very good protective role in this group of people with low immunity.
The Paper: How to protect infants and young children under the age of 3 who have not received the new crown vaccine?
Cao Qing: The "three elements" of any infectious disease will never be separated from its roots: the source of infection, the route of transmission, and the susceptible population. Starting from these three aspects can effectively isolate yourself from the virus.
infected people are the source of infection. If abnormalities occur, nucleic acid or antigen testing should be carried out as soon as possible. If is positive, is self-isolated in time to avoid contact with the outside world. It is both responsible for oneself and society.
respiratory droplet transmission and contact transmission are the two main transmission channels. Starting from these two aspects, it can be well cut off the transmission channels. Therefore, since the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic, we have repeatedly emphasized the "three-piece set" and "five musts" of epidemic prevention. Now we still have to talk about it!
insists on wearing masks, maintaining a one-meter social distance, and paying attention to personal hygiene. Children wear masks, sometimes they are easily stuffy and have difficulty breathing. They can prepare a hat with a face screen, which is better. Many of our respiratory infections are mainly transmitted through droplets, and the face screen can be used as a protective means. At the same time, parents who have the conditions at home can choose to drive by themselves by taking their children out, which is relatively safe in this case.
In addition, social distance should be kept, coughing and sneezing should be covered, hands should be washed frequently, and windows should be opened as much as possible. Babies are different from adults. They like to touch their hands everywhere, so it is also very important to pay attention to hand hygiene. Especially when you go out and come back, remember to wash your hands. In addition, you need to eat a balanced diet, regular schedule, moderate exercise, and strengthen your physical fitness. At the same time, caregivers should try their best to complete the vaccination of the new crown vaccine.
The Paper: In addition to the new crown, what other diseases should children pay attention to in autumn and winter?
Cao Qing: Children are a high-incidence group of respiratory diseases. The autumn and winter seasons of each year are the season with the most respiratory infections in children. At the same time, the virus is also the most important among respiratory infections in children. 70% and 80% of respiratory infections in children are mainly viruses.
In addition to paying attention to the new crown this season, we have also monitored the incidence of influenza in children recently, and the incidence of influenza A and B is increasing. In children under 5 years of age, the infection rate of RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) is also increasing. In addition to paying attention to the new coronavirus, we also need to pay attention to the A and B flow, RSV respiratory syncytial virus, and adenovirus .Mycoplasma infections in children over 6 years old have also been relatively common recently, and the proportion of severe cases is also relatively high.
For those children who may experience repeated respiratory infections, we recommend that viral lysates can be taken orally. Viral lysates enter the human body, which can stimulate the production of respiratory epithelium of the human body or stimulate innate immunity, and also regulate non-specific immunity, reduce respiratory tract infection, and it is also very convenient for parents to operate at home.
Source: Pengpai News
Process Editor: TF022
