Caring for F0 children at home 12
Doctor Du Tuan Quy, Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases – Neurology, Children’s Hospital 1, notes that children should use paracetamol, a dose of 10-15 mg/kg/time if the fever is 38.5 degrees Celsius, 4-3 times.
Children need to be dressed in loose clothing, in a well-ventilated room, and have clean body, oral, and nose and throat hygiene.
According to Dr. Quy, the primary caregiver needs to monitor the child’s health daily including indicators such as pulse, temperature, and SpO2.
Detect early and immediately report to the F0 management facility at home when detecting one of the signs that require emergency treatment, such as cough or difficulty breathing, tachypnea (tachypnea is defined when the respiratory rate is ≥ 40 times
`Children under 12 months, immunocompromised children or children with chronic diseases or obesity are at risk of getting worse, so they need to be hospitalized and closely monitored at a medical facility when infected with Covid-19,` Dr. Quy recommended.
According to Dr. Quy, most children infected with covid-19 have no symptoms or only mild symptoms such as fever, dry cough, fatigue, muscle pain, sore throat, stuffy/runny nose, headache, loss of taste.
Doctor Nguyen Cat Phuong Vu (City Children’s Hospital) noted that children need to regularly monitor SpO2 blood oxygen concentration index.
According to Dr. Vu, when detecting SpO2 below 95%, it is necessary to measure again after 30 seconds to one minute. When measuring, you are required to keep the measuring position still.
`If possible, equip a machine with a compact design with cute, vivid patterns to make children feel more comfortable and excited, with sound warnings when used,` Dr. Vu shared.
Dr. Vu said that in fact, when consulting F0 remotely, doctors encounter many cases where parents panic when the child’s SpO2 is below 95% even though there are no symptoms of the disease.
Doctors advise that the SpO2 index does not reflect all disease conditions or predict the disease, but is an important indicator to detect early signs of serious complications, if properly understood and properly measured.
Currently, children in Ho Chi Minh City infected with Covid-19 are isolated and treated at home.
The device measures blood oxygen index SpO2.
Le Phuong
