Unwell kids attending schools for final test

Nagpur: The seasonal flu continues to impact school-going kids, right in the middle of the final exam season. Though exam schedule may differ slightly between schools, majority of educational institutes in the city are conducting final exams for their primary and middle section students.
It’s not uncommon for schools to see three to four kids in every class having some sort of ailment. A CBSE school teacher, who in in-charge of the middle school section, said, “Cold and cough is the most common issue that kids are facing. And it seems to be a persistent thing, because we have one and sometime two days gap between papers, yet the child has not completely recovered.”
Even among these kids, majority don’t have fever, which makes it possible for them to appear for exam but the cough persists.
Paediatrician Dr Sanjay Deshmukh said that this year there has been an increase in the number of kids who are falling sick.
“Usually we do see the seasonal hospital rush in paediatric units at the start of the year due to change in season, but this time there was a spike. What we saw was atypical viral infection, which means that it does not respond to the routine treatment and takes a bit longer before kids are back to normal,” said Dr Deshmukh.
For the non-fever but persistent cough symptoms, Dr Deshmukh said, “Those who are prone to allergies are facing upper respiratory tract infections.”
Parents too have no choice but to send their kids for exams as the illness is not so bad. A CBSE school teacher said, “The exams go on for hardly 90 minutes or two hours, so it’s not a big deal for kids.” tnn