The increase in flu in children “was expected” with a return to normal, says the pediatrician

Weeks ago, infectologists and intensivists asked the population to continue wearing a mask when they have respiratory symptoms.

The increase in respiratory infections in children “was expected, it was what all countries feared when everything returned to normal,” said Lourdes Dueñas, pediatric infectious disease specialist and vice president of the El Salvador Pediatrics Association (Asopedes). .

The pediatrician explained that minors in the first years of life develop defenses that strengthen the immune system, and having been in isolation due to the covid-19 pandemic, have caused little exposure to viruses, germs and bacteria, in minors, which now that they return to “a normality”, they have to face.

“Children develop defenses by interacting with more children, at school they are exposed to many viruses, allergens (allergies) and now having been locked up, contact with all these diseases has not occurred,” explained the pediatrician.

Dueñas pointed out that countries such as Costa Rica and Guatemala have also seen an increase in cases of respiratory infections in minors.

flu wave

The Ministry of Health (Minsal) has reported an increase in cases of covid-19, influenza and respiratory infections such as respiratory syncytial virus in recent weeks.

According to the latest epidemiological bulletin published by Minsal on November 10, in the first week of November the people who reported the most cases of respiratory infections were children under one year of age, where 78,583 per 100,000 inhabitants were ill with respiratory infections this year.

Dr. Lourdes Dueñas, Vice President of the Pediatrics Association of El Salvador. /G.Aquino

Given the recent clinical pictures in minors, the vice president of Asopedes argued that the Healthcare portfolio maintained the vaccination scheme during the first years of the pandemic. “The Ministry of Health has taken care that children do not lose their vaccines during the pandemic, the vaccination centers have never been closed and the delay was practically 3 or 4 months when the pandemic started”. However, he assured that those vaccination delays were later made up for.

In this sense, Dueñas has addressed the cause of the infections to the recent crowds that have occurred in the country, such as the inauguration of the Christmas tree in the Plaza del Divino Salvador del Mundo, the Major League Soccer final and the concerts that have been massive . .

“This is what has brought and contributed to climate change last season of the year, every time this happens, there is an increase in the transmissibility of all respiratory diseases, which is what you see currently with covid, flu, syncytial virus,” he stressed.

Children develop defenses by interacting with more children, at school they are exposed to so many viruses, allergens (allergies) and now having been locked up, contact with all these diseases has not occurred. Lourdes Dueñas, pediatrician

Vaccine.

The vice president of Asopedes stressed that according to Minsal and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) the vaccination schedule exceeds 90%, however she declared that the pediatric vaccine against covid-19 is between 50% and 60% .

One of the vaccines approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in children is messenger RNA from the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, starting from 6 years of age.

Dueñas explained that the application of the vaccine in minors does not generate important side effects, unlike adults who have reported suffering from fever, pain at the application site and general malaise.

“Children tolerate messenger mRNA vaccination much better and this may be because they (children) are more exposed to being constantly vaccinated, while we adults very rarely apply a vaccine,” he said.