The children’s clinic at Makarios Hospital in Nicosia is full to capacity as a result of a spike in RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) and influenza A cases among infants.
The director of the children’s clinic at the hospital Dr Avraam Elia said that the situation with influenza A was under control. He said the RSV appears every year among children and although the number of cases this year is higher, there is no reason for concern.
Curently 33 children, of whom 12 are babies, are at the Makarios Hospital.
Elias said parents should be especially vigilant as regards new borns and babies.
He said there is no vaccine, adding that the lopw temperatures favour the spread of RSV. Rooms must be ventilated frequently while babies are better off if breast fed as this provides antibodies to the inflant and boosts the body’s defences, he said.
Moreover parents should not smoke in the presence of children as this aggravates their condition, he added.
