Bring sick kids for medical care during lockdown, British doctors appeal

With lockdown orders in place, parents may hesitate to take sick children to the doctor. But research by pediatricians in Britain concluded that if medical care is delayed – particularly when a child appears seriously ill – “the unintended consequences of the lockdown will do more harm and claim more children’s lives than COVID-19.”

Among nearly 2,500 pediatricians surveyed for the study published on Thursday in Archives of Disease in Childhood, one in three said they had dealt with medical emergencies in children who probably would have sought medical care before becoming so ill were it not for the pandemic. Children with diabetes were most often involved, but also those with life threatening blood infections and cancer, survey responses indicated.

Reuters