(CRHoy.com) Complications due to respiratory viruses claimed the lives of 19 children at the National Children’s Hospital (HNN) through December 21st of last year.
According to Marcela Hernández, coordinator of the HNN Epidemiological Surveillance Unit, 12 of the deaths occurred during the “peak” of respiratory infections that began at the end of May.
The data also reveals that in total the HNN treated 2,391 children with respiratory viruses, 869 with pneumonia, and who were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for an extended period.
Recommendations to avoid contagion include
- Maintain breastfeeding during infancy
- Avoid kissing children under 3 years of age.
- Avoid taking children less than 1 year old to large public gatherings.
- Use the sneeze protocol (cover your mouth with your forearm).
- Avoid secondhand smoke.
- Practice healthy nutrition.
According to the U.S. Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, in Costa Rica the death rate from pneumonia in children under 5 is low, 8 deaths per 100,000, compared with a rate of 45 in Panama, 47 in Nicaragua, and 154 in Guatemala.