BANGKOK, Feb 21 (TNA) – Hospital beds for children infected with COVID-19 were densely occupied because they had not been vaccinated and contracted the disease from parents, according to the Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health.
Dr Adisai Pattatang, director of the institute, said about 80% of hospital beds for children infected with COVID-19 were occupied and home isolation (HI) was applied to the infected children who were 1 year old and over and were asymptomatic.
Of the infected children, 15-17% were admitted to hospital, 50% were asymptomatic and 2.2% were critically ill. COVID-19 infections were spreading among children because most of them were unvaccinated and contracted the disease from family members. Some children got the disease because they went to school, Dr Adisak said.
Most young patients were treated similarly to cold patients and fully recovered in 10-14 days. Symptomatic patients were prescribed liquid favipiravir, he said.
The patients who were admitted to hospital were those who were younger than 1 year old or had chronic illnesses. Hospital staff observed children under HI via the LINE chat app and video calls. One nurse was assigned to monitor 30 cases online, the director said. (TNA)
