With the rise in temperature, a variety of contagious infections have started affecting children as well adults in the twin-cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad as hundreds of children infected with chickenpox, gastroenteritis, and measles are being brought to the public and private hospitals daily.
Chickenpox is a highly contagious disease, which is caused by the varicella-zoster virus (VZV). The disease has infected both children and adults equally in Rawalpindi, Dr Hafeez, a pediatrician at a private hospital informed APP.
“We have treated a whole family affected with chickenpox this week. Initially, a 3-year-old child in this family contacted VZ Virus, who later transmitted the illness among other members of the family. The adult members were in more severe condition than the children,” the doctor said.
He advised to isolate patients infected with chickenpox for 5-10 days so that the virus could not spread among other people, especially adults as the disease is more severe in adults than kids. Similarly, the cases of measles and gastroenteritis are also on the rise in the twin-cities. Toddlers and kids are among the most-affected population by these contagious diseases.
An official at the Children’s Hospital, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) said, “Although gastroenteritis or severe diarrheal illness can be caused by different viruses, the patients we have received were infected with rotavirus. This virus affects children under 5 years old and can dehydrate them within hours.” He further said that the Government of Pakistan under the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI), provides free vaccines to the children to prevent rotavirus, chickenpox, and measles.
However, it’s possible for a kid to get these infections even after vaccinations. But the illness will usually be milder than it would have been if they had not been vaccinated, he added.
