China: Undiagnosed Febrile Illness Among Infants in Qingdao, Shandong Province
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Three Hospitals have treated nearly 200 patients a day with high
fever. According to Children's Hospital, Haici Hospital and No. 8
People's Hospital, a strange virus [i.e. illness] has afflicted
infants under 2 years of age over the past week. These 3 hospitals
alone treated about 200 patients a day. The most typical symptom in
these children is a continuous fever of about 39 C. About 3 hours
after antipyretic infusion, body temperature commonly rises again.
Many parents take their children to the hospital 3 or 4 times a day.
But most of these children have not had other ailments. Recovery
typically takes place after a week of treatment. According to expert
analysis, this [outbreak] may have something to do with the recent
heat wave in Qingdao.
According to the Children's Hospital, recurrent high fever is
unusual. "For children to come down with this type of virus [virus
involvement cannot not be assumed from this description - Mod.CP] is
a bit unusual! Only 3 hours after intravenous drip, body temperature
can rise again," said Municipal Children's Hospital ER Director Xu
Jing. "We ran blood tests on every child, and the results were
basically normal. And there are no complications. Over the past week,
our clinical staff has been worn out treating children. In a single
day, we might treat more than 80 infants with fever caused by unknown
illness. Among these, the youngest is 40 days old and the oldest 2
years old," said Xu Jing.
Xu Jing believes that this kind of unknown virus [i.e. illness]
affecting infants might be related to high heat and humidity. She
recommends that the parents of patients maintain their air
conditioning at about 27 C. At night, it is best not to use air
conditioning or fans. When a child's temperature rises above 38.5 C,
they should 1st be given fever-reducing medication and then sent to
the hospital in order to prevent the occurrence of febrile seizures.
According to Haici Hospital, symptoms can flare up repeatedly over 3
to 4 days. "Each day, our hospital might treat about 60 infants under
the age of 2 with high fever. This has been going on for a week
already," said Liu Xiaoping, Director of the Pediatric Department at
Haici Hospital during an interview. "Many of the children have rising
body temperatures 2 to 3 hours after infusion of antipyretics. There
are also some children who have had seizures because of their high
fevers. This kind of condition typically recurs over 3 to 4 days."
Liu Xiapoing has observed that some infants are wrapped in towels by
parents, or brought to the hospital in heat-trapping gowns and long
pants. In fact, overheating can cause a child's fever to rise
further. Parents should be sure to keep kids cool en route to the hospital.
According to No. 8 People's Hospital, slight hyperemia of the throat
has been observed. "How is it that my child never left home but came
down with fever? I just gave my child a bath; I don't know how my
child became feverish." These are comments commonly uttered by
parents bringing their children to No. 8 People's Hospital for
treatment, said Yuan Xianwen, Vice Director of the hospital's
Pediatric Department. For nearly a week, the hospital has treated
about 40 infants under 2 with high fever every day. Of these, about
half the parents take their feverish children to the hospital 3 or 4
times a day. Among the sick children, some have slight hyperemia of
the throat. Yuan Xianwen recommends that parents give children warm
baths to achieve cooling. Light food is key, with more vegetables and
fruits. Avoid cold beverages to prevent diarrhea.
Experts at the municipal Center for Disease Control believe that
admission to hospitals of large numbers of infants with sustained
high fevers is likely due to the abnormal weather in Qingdao, created
by continuous high heat and humidity. Parents are advised to be
cautious about food hygiene with toddlers and prevent the effects of
the weather from causing the pathogen [pathogens?] to reproduce and
accelerate transmission.
Ge Meife, Director of the Qingdao Municipal Traditional Medicine
Hospital Pediatric Department, says the hospital has already provided
traditional Chinese treatment to a portion of children who did not
respond to antipyretics. Generally, the patients are given oral
anti-viral traditional compounds along with traditional massage.
Fever is effectively reduced in 3 to 4 days. At the same time,
parents should ensure that the inside temperature is within 5 degrees
of the outside temperature and should be cautious about drafts in
early and late hours to ensure that the virus does not recur in
patients at home.
--
Dan Silver
<dgsilver@yahoo.com>
