Hyderabad: The rise in cases of viral fever and influenza has hit school children hard, with those aged up to 10 years being the worst affected, forcing them to stay away from school for many days. In some instances, these children have fallen ill multiple times in a year. This is increasing pressure on their studies.
Doctors said that schoolchildren are the most vulnerable due to a lack of social distancing and improper hand hygiene.
Dr Suresh Kumar Panuganti, lead consultant of paediatric critical care at a leading private hospital, said, “School children and their siblings are the most affected. Children in the age group 5-12 years and below two years have been suffering from a combination of influenza viruses and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).”
Dr Madap Karuna, a paediatrician at Niloufer Hospital, said, “It is crucial for school administrations to issue an advisory to the parents to not send their kids to school if they are showing any early signs of viral infection, so that the child can be treated well. It will also limit further spread of infection to other kids in the school.”
Doctors said that in some instances, parents were continuing to send sick children to school for fear of losing out on lessons. In such cases, doctors called for schools to hold online classes and exams.
Teachers also advised parents not to send sick children to school.
M. Chrisolite, founder-principal of Sprouts Learning Centre, said, “We have seen many children falling sick due to the viral fever in the past three months and almost 50 per cent of the children were absent due to sickness. Positive learning has been hampered because students are unable to focus in the class. Students usually miss school for 3-5 days, but we tell parents not to send their kid to school unless they are totally recovered.”
Vandana Sharma, principal, Government Boys High School, Amberpet, said that there were instances when parents sent their kids to school despite being unwell. “When we see any child being unwell, we call the parents and tell the parents not to send their kid to school. We also support the kids to cover missed classes so that they don’t feel the pressure,” she said.
Doctors stressed taking the influenza vaccine to prevent viral infections in children and said that more awareness of the vaccination would prevent widespread infections..
