Dr. Dusko Fidanovski - pediatrician/Photo: Metodi Zdravev

VIDEO INTERVIEW | Dr. Fidanovski: Up to 100 children with flu symptoms are examined in one day

High fever, runny nose, waiting rooms full of children. What are the symptoms of the flu and when is it time to see a doctor? Is the peak of the flu this year already at its peak or should we still expect it? This morning on the show "Sloboden Pechat" we talk about this topic with primary doctor Dusko Fidanovski, a pediatrician from the private hospital "Acibadem Sistina". He says that in the past period they have had an increased number of patients with various respiratory viral conditions.

– Last weekend, when the holiday weekend was extended with Christmas and Christmas Eve, we had over 100 to 120 examinations in 24 hours in our emergency department. It was about children of various ages, most of them children under the age of five, because they are the ones who get sick the most often – says Fidanovski.

He explains that most of the children were sick with viral diseases.

– I have the impression, based on the isolations we have proven, that 90 percent were viruses, 10 percent maybe something else. Most often there was influenza, type A, but there is influenza B, there are also some other viruses, such as, for example, adenovirus, and there is also Covid-19, but somewhat less than these other viruses – says Fidanovski.

According to him, the peak has not yet been reached because the children are on vacation. However, they are already returning to school from Monday and the peak, which is regularly at the end of January and the beginning of February, should be expected.

As for vaccination, the doctor says that although it is recommended for children under five years of age, in our country children are not vaccinated at all.

– The biggest problem, the flu, and other viral infections, can cause in children under five years of age, especially in those before the second year. It is recommended to vaccinate children who are six months old. So, after six months, all children can be vaccinated, especially children under five years of age, because it causes complications in them. Children who have some kind of comorbidity should be vaccinated, meaning those who have chronic problems such as asthma, children with diabetes, children with heart disease – says Fidanovski.

He explains that children should be vaccinated every year during September until the end of October.

-Unfortunately, we do not have a large number of vaccinated children, and the majority of children who are hospitalized with severe forms of the flu and who end up with an adverse, even fatal outcome, are practically unvaccinated. Because the vaccine, as with other diseases, does not protect 100 percent and does not promise that you will not get sick from a particular disease, but that if you do get the disease, it will pass more easily, it will not cause complications and there will be no deaths - says the doctor.

Dr. Dusko Gidanovski - pediatrician/Photo: Metodi Zdravev

When asked if parents come to the clinic and take antibiotics on their own, the pediatrician says that this is very common.

– As with any viral infection, including the flu, antibiotics do not help. They can even suppress the body's immune response to fight it. When it comes to the flu or any other viral infection, antibiotics should not be given. Antibiotics are given when we have some complication, most often caused by, perhaps, a bacterial superinfection – says the doctor.

He explains that symptomatic therapy should be given first. If there is a high fever, a fever-reducing medication, paracetamol and ibuprofen, should be given. The child should be kept cool, drink fluids, not dressed too much, but also should not be overused with antipyretics.

When asked when to see a doctor and what the alarming signs are, the doctor says that if the temperature lasts longer than three days, if it is constantly high, if the child is in poor general condition, weak, bedridden, uncommunicable, then they must be taken to the doctor immediately.

– A child who is in good condition, only has a fever, but is not bedridden, is drinking fluids, and eating something, that child does not need to be taken to the doctor immediately – says Fidanovski.

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