While hundreds of thousands of adults in South Africa have fallen victim to the coronavirus, infections among children have remained relatively low. That doesn’t mean they haven’t been affected though as children are still vulnerable to the risk of falls, burns, bites and other injuries. After all, childhood accidents don’t stop for lockdown.
One such example is Jineil Jafta who is being treated at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital after suffering severe dog bite injuries.
When injuries strike, children from all over the country are admitted for treatment to the Emergency Centre (EC) at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital. The EC is the first and only specialist paediatric centre in sub-Saharan Africa, treating around 45 000 patients annually.
We asked Prof. Sebastian Van As, Head of the Trauma Ward in the EC, Dr. Thozama Siyotula Paediatric Surgery Registrar and Yolande Baker, Executive Director of children’s safety advocacy NGO Childsafe, about how the type and number of cases admitted to the Hospital before and during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the same period in 2019.
“There was no significant change in the numbers during the first quarter of this year but we did see a change in the second quarter, at the start of the pandemic. The profile of injuries changed, too”, says Van As.
This year, more children were admitted with injuries caused by falls and burns. Of those, almost half were caused by falls. “The injuries had many causes, from falling out of bed, out of trees or even falling while running and playing,” he adds.
The figures offer a reminder of the message Childsafe has always tried to reinforce: “The reality is that you can’t prevent a child from falling. They are curious and like to climb, experiment and explore,” says Baker. “But in confined quarters or under lockdown there are things we can do to protect them from injury.”
Burns also increased, particularly liquid and contact burns. Van As attributes this rise to children living in dense conditions and being confined to small spaces where they are at greater risk of injury from contact with household appliances and boiling liquids. The EC recorded 10% fewer fire burns however, possibly because with parents being at home during lockdown, parental vigilance would have been greater and children may not have been as exposed to fires without supervision.
Siyotula adds that, in addition to burns injuries, her team at the EC has also conducted surgery on patients who have been badly injured from dog bites, pedestrian traffic accidents and gunshot injuries during lockdown.
The upgrade and expansion of the Centre comes at a cost of R122 million, of which R86 million has been raised thanks to the generosity of our valued donors. Please help us reach the finish line and raise the balance of R36 million. Every bit helps, no matter how big or small.
