Although traditionally Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI) in pediatric ages are identified each year among the most frequent conditions that assist the emergency staff of the Octavio de la Concepción de la Pedraja Pediatric Hospital in Holguin, in the first months of 2025 their behavior is worrying, with a tendency to increase.
So much so that this indicator during the months of January and February registered the evaluation of more than 4,600 cases, with the need to take several minors to the different therapy services.
According to Dr. Elizabeth Hernández Almarales, head of the Department of Hospital Epidemiology at the pediatric institution, “in the first eight weeks of this year there is an increase in cases that come to the hospital and are admitted for this reason, where more than 560 children required hospital admission.”
The specialist explained that of this number of admissions, a significant percentage needed referral to serious care rooms, with complicated respiratory conditions, with the requirement of oxygen therapy and even mechanical ventilation.
It is also a cause for concern for professionals in charge of paediatric care that in the established surveillance of ARIs that are admitted in serious condition to therapies, a higher percentage of patients with rhinovirus and respiratory syncytial have been isolated than in similar stages in previous years.
Although ARIs are present in all age groups, the increase in cases in children under one year of age is alarming, with emphasis on the first six months of life, who have an immune system less prepared to face this type of virus.
The trend towards an increase in ARIs, especially in the municipalities of Holguin, Calixto García and Gibara, should not make parents and relatives trust, who must take into account the proximity of other periods that have historically marked an increase in these conditions.
Hence the value, in the opinion of the epidemiologist, of the use of the mask, both on public transport and in homes where young children live, who should be limited to contact with other sick family members with respiratory symptoms.
There is also a call for attention to school administrators, whether they are kindergartens, semi-boarding schools, basic secondary schools or pre-university schools, to comply with the sanitary filter. In addition to not allowing students with suspicious symptoms to attend classes.
Other measures include hand washing and not staying in crowded places as a way to protect those most susceptible to complications and even death.
Not only in Holguin and Cuba, worldwide this is one of the most frequent causes of morbidity. In the presence of symptoms such as shortness of breath, weakness or high fever, children should be taken to health services to be evaluated by specialists.
To achieve effectiveness in prevention and treatment strategies against ARI, there must first be the population’s perception of risk. That is why the insistence on putting into practice the hygienic and sanitary measures that have been proven to be effective.
By: Maylín Betancourt Verdecia
Translated by Radio Angulo
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