PA cancels the new hospital visits after case of chickenpox in NICU

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Hospital de Clinicas Gaspar Vianna, in Bethlehem (PA), will not receive new patients until next Sunday (22). During the 10 days, the Hospital de Clinicas send mothers whose pregnancy is considered a risk to other hospitals. The precautionary measure is being taken under the framework of varicella (chickenpox) presented by one of the children admitted to the unit last Monday (9).

After diagnosis, the infant was treated and placed in respiratory isolation to prevent infection of other children who also underwent preventive immunization.

Earlier on Friday (13), chairman of the hospital's director, Ana Lydia Head, found, along with the medical team accompanying the case, the picture of health of babies admitted to the NICU. She said everyone is well and no symptoms of chickenpox. All security measures to avoid contamination were taken from the treatment of infant who presented the clinical picture to the immunization of children too. As we have all 10 beds occupied, we can not open new ones. Even if children are admitted on condition of discharge, they will have to stay here for a period of 10 days from the entry. The other sectors of the hospital did not suffer any interference, Ana Lydia explained.

About to complete one month of age, a child diagnosed with chickenpox was admitted to the Hospital de Clinicas in the last five days, sent by St. Anthony Mary Zaccarias Hospital, the city of Bragança, northeastern Para, with a picture of congenital heart disease. After four days of admission chickenpox was diagnosed by hospital staff. The table only if configured on the fifth day of hospitalization, or even during the incubation period of the disease, says Ana Lydia Head.

The baby's mother infected with chickenpox, Carla Campbell, ensures that the child was still contaminated in Bragança, but because the disease is still in the incubation period she did not notice any symptoms in the child. I knew of a baby with chickenpox who had been discharged from the hospital just before the Bragança my daughter to be admitted. As she did not show any symptoms, I did not know what was up with the disease be diagnosed at Hospital here, says Carla, who like her daughter and the other NICU patients also received the vaccine against the disease.

<b> Precautions </ b>

According to the head of the committee of the Clinical Hospital Infection, Andrea Beltran, the team is taking all necessary precautions for the child's recovery. She is making use of an antiviral which prevents the appearance of new lesions and brings no complication to heart disease, says the doctor. The child is being constantly monitored and will be evaluated for complex heart where there is the possibility of surgery.

Have warned the State Department of Public Health (Sespa) and the Department of Regulation of the Municipal Health Department (Sesma) for these cases are referred to other units. However, mothers who arrive here in normal labor will be met by staff from the obstetric hospital. For this, we rely on public understanding, especially mothers, and we are formally notifying the other hospitals on the procedure we are adopting, says the director of the Hospital de Clinicas, Ana Lydia Head.

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