The Ministry of Health have reported a considerable increase in the number of hospitalised Covid-19-infected children nationwide.
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The number of children under 12 years old hospitalised for Covid-19 treatment nationwide has risen considerably from 14.1 percent of all hospitalisations before February to 24.3 percent at present.
Of that total, 4 percent are at risk of turning critical after five to eight days of showing symptoms.
Dr Nguyen Thanh Le of Hanoi-based Hospital for Tropical Diseases said most of the infected patients admitted to the hospital had severe symptoms and needed medical intervention.
Most children with Covid-19 were hospitalised with symptoms such as high temperatures, lethargy, anorexia, and convulsions, while some children suffered respiratory failure, he said.
Doctors have advised parents to closely monitor their children if they are infected with the virus in order to seek medical help as swiftly as possible.
Children suffering from underlying medical conditions such as obesity, bronchial asthma, and low birth weight, along with those taking immunosuppressive drugs and malignancies could fall severely ill if they contract Covid-19, they warned.
Furthermore, children without any underlying conditions are also at risk, even of death, if hospitalisation is late, according to Dr Tran Minh Dien, deputy director of the National Paediatrics Hospital.
The majority of positive Covid-19 child patients suffer from mild symptoms and recover faster than adults. A small number of children however still have mild to severe symptoms in the post-COVID-19 period, particularly multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children.
Families should be aware that if children record negative Covid-19 tests two to six weeks after infection but still have symptoms in the post-Covid-19 period, children should be examined and treated as quickly as possible, said doctors.
