Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) pose a significant threat to children in India, perpetuated by factors like air pollution, overcrowding, and limited access to healthcare. According to a study published in 2022 (Spatial epidemiology of acute respiratory infections in children under 5 years and associated risk factors in India: District-level analysis of health, household, and environmental datasets), “The average percentage of children (under 5 years) having symptoms of ARI in India during the study period was 2.7% (6,529 out of 238,945 surveyed children).”
Diseases such as pneumonia, bronchiolitis, and influenza hit children particularly hard, leading to high morbidity and mortality rates.
On the other hand, sleep disorders among Indian children are increasingly prevalent, attributed to factors like technological distractions, academic pressures, and irregular sleep schedules. Conditions such as insomnia, sleep apnea, and restless leg syndrome disrupt restorative sleep, impairing cognitive function and impacting overall well-being, warranting attention and intervention for healthy sleep habits. ‘The prevalence of these individual disorders varies among different population groups. Among Indian children, the prevalence of individual sleep disorders is 3.2-25.5%,” a 2016 study (“Prevalence of sleep disorders among primary school children”. Gupta R, Goel D, Kandpal SD, Mittal N, Dhyani M, Mittal M. Indian J Pediatr. 2016;83:1232–1236) infers.
Resource-limited settings, delayed diagnosis and inadequate treatment exacerbate the impact these disorders have on children. Children from marginalized communities, lacking proper nutrition and sanitation, are especially vulnerable. In a recent interview with The Telegraph Online, pediatric pulmonologist Dr Pallab Chatterjee informed that at HP Ghosh hospital a lot of medical investigations which can lead to the timely detection of such disorders are available at affordable rates. Investigative procedures such as bronchoscopy, fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) test, and sleep studies are conducted at the facility, accessible to a wide demographic.
Dr Chatterjee further informed that young children often can’t get procedures like spirometry and pulmonary function tests, and are instead administered other tests like impulse oscillometry which are expensive and not readily available at most places. HP Ghosh Hospital has the infrastructure and capacity to conduct these tests at reasonable rates leading to the early detection of asthma like conditions in children.
Dr CHatterjee also emphasized the importance of proper sleep for children. Sleep disorders or which lead to not getting proper sleep can lead to behavioral, performance and retention related issues among children. Sleep disorders inhibit proper development and parents often confuse symptoms of sleep disorders with those of psychological or psychiatric conditions leading to misdiagnosis and mistreatment, Proper investigation leads to proper diagnosis which in turn aid physicians to treat and manage disorders more effectively, Dr Chatterjee observed.
This article has been produced on behalf of HP Ghosh Hospitals by ABP Digital Brand Studio.
