Less than a week after the start of the school year in Senegal, winter illnesses, such as seasonal flu or bronchitis, are likely to be more virulent this year, due in particular to the decline in barrier gestures.
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Parents have to worry about. According to Professor Idrissa Demba Bâ, head of the pneumonia service at the Albert Royer children’s hospital in Dakar, this return to school is a good time for respiratory diseases such as asthma and bronchitis. “For one to two weeks, there has been an influx of patients in our services. This situation is linked to thrust phenomena. In fact, there have been a lot of cases of viral infections “, he said on the sidelines of a meeting with journalists to alert on the upsurge in influenza cases.
Childhood diarrhea and vomiting as well as bronchiolitis and rhinobronchitis are all viral infections. Because of the cases of viral pneumonia, we have had many more patients who come for example for fever, cough and vomiting, ” explains Professor Bâ.
Zero cases of Covid in children
“ When there is a change of climate, we often know this situation ”, estimates Professor Bâ before adding that everything is done so that the children receive appropriate care and that there is no death. This is how he was delighted by the fact that the Covid-19 tests carried out on these patients came back mostly negative.
“Children come for a cold or for a cough. These are classic signs of the flu, sometimes accompanied by vomiting. Viruses in general, I am not talking about Covid-19, affect three organs. The respiratory one for children which are smaller, because they have small airways. This gives some signs of difficulty in breathing which may go as far as needing oxygen. Viruses also give skin signs and digestive signs like vomiting and diarrhea, “he detailed.
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