HÀ NỘI – Fluctuating temperatures, combined with drizzle and high humidity, have created conditions for an unseasonal influx of pediatric diseases, doctors say.

The number of children in many localities being hospitalised has increased over recent days due to unusual changes of the weather, especially in the north.

Most of the children have been hospitalised for diseases relating to respiratory problems like bronchitis and pneumonia, digestive ailments or dengue fever.

The Central Hospital of Pediatrics has received around 2,500 children for health check-ups and treatment each day over the past week, according to hospital statistics.

According to doctors, the number of children being hospitalised will keep increasing if the humidity remains high.

The Health Check-up Department is overloaded, especially during mornings. Long queues of parents and family members stand at department doors waiting for check-ups.

“It’s hard to find a space in a queue. I’ve been waiting here for nearly an hour for my turn,” Lê Mai Lan, a woman living in Giảng Võ Street with her six-month-old daughter said.

“I see most parents take their children here with the disease relating to respiratory problems, and my daughter is also the same,” she said.

Hospital staff have been working at full capacity to quickly deal with the situation, but people have still have to wait for long periods of time.

Every time the weather changes, clinics see an increase of 500-1,000 children patients compared to an average day.

About 60-70 per cent of checked children had respiratory diseases, a doctor said.

The departments of respiratory, digestive, dermatology have received the largest number of patients in recent days. The disease ranges from infancy to children in kindergarten and primary school.

Prof Trần Minh Điền, the hospital’s deputy director, said when the weather changed, children, especially those with weak immune systems, are more likely to catch respiratory diseases.

“The high humidity and unusual change of temperature are the reason for the spread of diseases relating to respiratory and digestion,” he said.

At the Pediatrics Department of Bạch Mai Hospital, the number of children being hospitalised with respiratory disease increased 20 per cent.

Each day, the hospital received over 200 children for health check-ups and treatment over the past days.

Most of them had cough, hard respiration, wheezing, fever or high fever, Prof Nguyễn Tiến Dũng said.

"Many children have allergic rhinitis, bronchitis and many cases are identified as catching disease due to affected moldy and moist environment," he said.

In northern Hà Nam Province, the health sector said that the number of people coming to the general, obstetrics and pediatrics hospitals as well as districts’ health centres increased by 5-10 per cent compared to last month.

Patients mainly are elderly and children who suffer from chronic diseases, with some directly related to humidity of weather, such as arthritis, cardiovascular disease, especially respiratory.

It is forecast that there will be a high level of humidity in the next few days.

Doctors recommend people keep the environment clean to prevent diseases related to weather.

They also suggest people should close the door all day to limit the moisture blowing in the house and use dehumidifiers.

Nutrition also should be strengthened, especially for children, doctors said.

Prof Dũng also warned people should not arbitrarily use drugs, especially antibiotics, without doctor’s prescription after a health check-up. - VNS