Kids lining up at hospitals
Ιn what has been described as an unprecedented phenomenon of the last 30 years, doctors are reporting the simultaneous increase and appearance of four to five respiratory viruses in children, including influenza, Covid-19 and RSV.
According to Spyros Mazanis, a pediatrician and treasurer of the Panhellenic Federation of Self-Employed Professionals of Pediatricians, almost one in 10 children who fall ill need hospitalization and the situation will get worse “as we move into winter.”
“This surge will get worse over the next two months, and the peak is expected from mid-February onward,” he said, noting a shortage of beds at both public and private pediatric hospitals.
He also referred to long queues forming at hospitals.
“This is wrong because children spend long hours in outpatient clinics, so even if they don’t have a serious problem, they risk getting infected. And the result is that they put too much strain on the hospitals. That’s why we recommend that parents go to the pediatrician first,” he said.
