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Should we be preparing for children’s illnesses?

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grannyactivist Fri 09-Jul-21 11:26:58

Those of you who have been following my post about my granddaughter’s hospitalisation will see I just posted an article about the high rate of respiratory infections amongst children in NZ. I though it might be useful to post the article on a separate thread so that it will be seen by more people.

www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/08/new-zealand-children-falling-ill-in-high-numbers-due-to-covid-immunity-debt

I can’t bear to think of the same thing happening here in the UK, but I do think our hospitals need to be prepared.

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CafeAuLait Fri 09-Jul-21 13:20:27

The same has happened in Australia.

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CafeAuLait Fri 09-Jul-21 13:23:06

Adults too btw. Not necessarily the same as children but heavy colds and getting quite sick with them.

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grannyactivist Fri 09-Jul-21 15:33:31

In New Zealand only the very sickest children, those who are having difficulties breathing or feeding, are going to be admitted to hospital as the children's hospitals and wards are overwhelmed. My granddaughter was on a 22 bed PICU in the main Children's Hospital, but they had to bring in extra beds to accommodate the high number of patients; unfortunately this puts additional pressure on the staff.

If we were to get a similar spike of respiratory infections in children I think the NHS would find it equally difficult to cope, especially with the number of COVID admissions rising again.

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