Beijing Children’s Hospital Coping with Peak Season for Respiratory Infectious Diseases
Beijing has entered the season of high incidence of respiratory infectious diseases, with influenza, adenovirus, syncytial virus, and other pathogens co-circulating. The pediatric outpatient volume of Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Institute of Pediatrics, and major hospitals has been running at a high level for more than a month. As a result, parents have been rushing to the hospital with their sick children in large numbers.
“We would like to remind our fellow doctors that the current methods for detecting various pathogens have their limitations and are limited by the detection methods and their principles,” says Qin Qiang, chief physician of the Respiratory Department of Beijing Children’s Hospital. He further emphasized that it is important to focus on clinical practice and consider auxiliary diagnosis through signs of the child’s onset of illness, as well as some routine blood work or a chest X-ray.
Guo Lingyun, deputy chief physician of the Department of Infectious Diseases, Beijing Children’s Hospital, shared that due to the high number of patients, the hospital has been working on improving efficiency by utilizing senior residents to separate cases and documenting medical histories in advance. This has been a huge help in managing the overwhelming patient load.
Furthermore, children’s hospitals have been appealing through multiple channels that due to the current high volume of medical visits, if a child has just developed symptoms, it is not recommended to immediately go to the main pediatric hospitals for treatment. Instead, parents are advised to first go to community hospitals or second- and third-level hospitals with pediatric qualifications in order to ease the burden on the children’s hospitals.
The prevalence of multiple diseases has also increased the risk of cross-infection in closed environments and crowded places, so it’s recommended that parents seek medical treatment continuously during the first visit.
The emerging concern has also been respiratory syncytial virus, which has experienced a wave of epidemic peaks in southern China. This is particularly dangerous for younger children, causing wheezing, and for some sensitive children, the damage to their lung function may last for a long time. There is no specific drug for respiratory syncytial virus infection, so symptomatic treatment is mainly used.
Additionally, it’s important for infants and young children to take preventative measures such as developing good hygiene habits, washing hands frequently, wearing masks in crowded places, and paying attention to cough etiquette in order to prevent the spread of the virus.
As the season of high incidence for respiratory infectious diseases continues, it’s crucial for parents to observe their children’s symptoms and seek medical attention if necessary, while also taking preventative measures to minimize the risk of infection.