Virus hits children nationwide
If you are a young child watching this newscast from your sickbed don’t feel sad… you’re not alone. An unusually large number of children — and adults — have been stricken with a disease that leaves them virtually incapacitated. While my own child was visiting the doctor’s office I took the opportunity to investigate.
During the last month, pediatricians across the country have been noticing an increase of diarrhea. The problem has been linked to two types of sicknesses that have been affecting children predominantly between the ages of one and five years old.
Dr. Arleigh Gough, Pediatrician
“I’ve been seeing the child who comes in with very acute symptoms starting with vomiting and then progressing with fever and diarrhea and we have the other child who comes in with diarrhea first and then after a day or two, start to have the vomiting and other symptoms.”
The symptoms, which also may include abdominal pain and severe headaches, are believed to be the result of either a bacterial or viral infection in the intestines and stomach. Infections that are caused by contaminated food or water or poor hygiene. According to pediatrician, Doctor Arleigh Gough, because younger children are not able to clean themselves, they are particularly vulnerable to the disease.
Dr. Arleigh Gough
“The only way they can get into the body, is through the mouth. You have to eat something, or drink something, or put your dirty hands to your mouth for the germ to get into your system and once it gets in, then it starts to produce the different toxins and cause different damage to the intestine and stomach.”
The condition is one that Doctor Miquel Rosado, a Pediatrician and President of the Belize Medical and Dental Association has been noticing now for the past four years. Rosado says he has also noticed that the conditions become even more severe during specific months of the year.
Dr. Miguel Rosado, President, B.M.D.A.
“We have two episodes in the year which would consist of March, April and May, and we have October, November and December, that this diarrhea problem increase significantly.”
The doctors say because the outbreaks are commonly noticed in the school environment, parents and teachers should be advised that it is highly contagious and therefore any child suspected of having the illness should remain at home and get medical attention.
Dr. Arleigh Gough
“In day care centers, pre-schools and even kindergarten, primary schools in the lower infants, because these are the kids that will have the least consciousness about hygiene. These are the kids that you have thirty, forty children in one school with one teacher and the teacher just can’t supervise everybody at the same time and tend to them and wash their hands and teach at the same time.”
One serious complication of the sickness, is that because the patient suffers a loss of appetite and liquid, he or she easily becomes dehydrated and in some cases must be hospitalized. Therefore as a first step in treatment, Rosado says parents are being advised to give their children oral rehydration salts or the drink Pedialyte.
Dr. Miguel Rosado
“The children they come in a very bad state. We usually tend to give them urgent medical treatment; they need it. But most of the time the parents have already started treatment with the oral rehydration salts or even using some softdrinks. Others have avoided liquids, so we tend to stress a lot of the oral rehydration salts.
The anti-diarrhea medications have never been recommended, for what that does is it stops the activity, the normal activity of the intestines. What will that permit, it will permit the offending organisms, the parasites, the virus, the bacteria to multiply in the intestines and that can make it worse.”
While there is no need for alarm, Gough says the public should be aware of the illness, as he has been seeing cases from almost all the districts.
Dr. Arleigh Gough
“I have been getting cases especially from Belize City, from Orange Walk, from Cayo. Belmopan area, and I have had a few from Dangriga, I haven’t had any from P.G. I have had from San Pedro, Ambergris Caye and I have had from Caye Caulker, so that is from about everywhere.”
Although it is the younger population that the illness has mostly affected, there have also been adults who have been reported sick. Bottom line, Rosado says, the most important things to remember is wash your hands, and make sure that nothing goes into your mouth unless you know it is cleaned.
Dr. Miguel Rosado
“We have to go to basics: hygiene. Wash your hands after you go to the bathroom, wash your hands of a small child, who is having the problem, but continue with the rehydration salts, with the liquids, and with the medicines that the doctors are prescribing.”
Principals and teachers are being advised, that if a child complains about abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea, they should contact the parents and have that child go home and seek medical attention as soon as possible.
Doctor Jorge Polanco, Epidemiologist at the Belize Central Medical Lab, told News Five that his office noticed an increase in reported gastrointestinal disease around February first. He says it is a viral infection, affecting mostly children throughout the country, and he believes it is now under control with new cases already beginning to decrease in number.
