Four illnesses are currently spreading among children across Sri Lanka, with parents urged to remain alert for symptoms, Consultant Paediatrician Dr. Deepal Perera of the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children in Colombo has warned.
Dr. Perera said cases of dengue fever, influenza, hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) and viral meningitis are all being reported among children, and called raising awareness and prevention a shared responsibility of parents, schools and the wider community.
On dengue, he described it as potentially life-threatening, with symptoms including fever, headache, pain in the eyes, body and joints, vomiting and diarrhoea. Parents should seek medical attention if a child’s fever lasts more than two days.
Influenza symptoms include fever, cough, cold, body aches and joint pain. He recommended that affected children rest, and that those who must attend school, preschool or daycare wear face masks to limit spread.
HFMD cases are also rising, caused by the Coxsackie virus and spread by direct contact. Symptoms include red spots on the feet, elbows and around the mouth, sometimes with fluid-filled blisters. He advised keeping affected children at home for three to four days.
Viral meningitis symptoms include fever, headache, vomiting, sensitivity to light, aversion to loud sounds and body aches. The disease spreads through contaminated food and the respiratory tract; he urged hygienically prepared food, boiled-and-cooled drinking water, and masks when coughing or with a cold.
The paediatrician’s warning comes alongside a separate National Dengue Control Unit finding that mosquito breeding sites are densest at schools and public places, and a Health Ministry update earlier this week that hospitals were over capacity as dengue deaths reached 21 for the year.
