Coronavirus being totally harmless to children is a huge misconception

Some weeks after the active phase of the infection, patients develop an inflammation that attacks several organs. This state requires serious and intensive therapy, occasionally even ventilation, said Dr György Velkey, director-general of Bethesda Children’s Hospital to InfoRádio.

The doctor talked about the general situation in children’s hospitals, the fears these sick kids have, how the pandemic changed their lives, and how to explain this crazy situation and the importance of following the rules to little kids whose everyday routine was changed from one day to another.

Children need increased attention and care during a pandemic; primarily, their fears need to be paid attention to,

writes infostart.hu. Dr György Velkey says the fear of going to a hospital and having the possibility of catching the virus from each other is very high in the case of children as well. The hospital does everything they can to make them feel safe and taken care of. Of course, the first step is respecting basic measures such as wearing a mask properly, hand sanitation, and keeping the distance from each other, but properly ventilating areas plays an important role, too. Moreover, the Bethesda Hospital works with more staff on duty in order to decrease the waiting time. He says this measure proved to be successful as they can protect each other inside the hospital from transmitting the disease.

Since the first wave of the virus and the lockdown started, the number of playground accidents have changed significantly. The usual high number of these accidents around spring and autumn was very low this year, whereas smaller, at-home accidents, such as falling from a chair, a table, or smaller burns or scalds, happened much more often. The director-general mentioned that altogether, the number of accidents was lower this year since by keeping the distance, infections, in general, are less likely to be passed on. This, however, does not mean that the hospital staff has less work; it simply shows how the general lifestyle has changed these past months.

He goes on pointing out that the main children’s hospital treating young coronavirus patients is the Heim Pál Children’s Hospital in Budapest, which means that the Bethesda Hospital accepts children from all over the country in the case their local hospital is not able to tend to them. However, they also do have some coronavirus patients from time to time, depending on the kid, whether they have an underlying disease or had been treated there previously and doctors know them.