Corona Virus COVID 19- An update by Pediatric Dentist in Dubai

Posted by Micheal Simo on January 16th, 2021

The Corona Virus, COVID 19 outbreak started in China in January, and in a very short period of time, it has unfortunately spread among almost every other country in the world and became a Global Pandemic.

As a pediatric dentist, I care about children's health and wellbeing and I decided to do this blog to give you lovely parents some general information about the virus and family health and children, in hope that this helps one more family in the process of dealing with this crisis.

So What is COVID-19?

• COVID 19 is the short name for “Coronavirus Disease 2019”. It is a new disease and scientists are still learning about it and coming up with medicine that could work in curing this new virus.
• This particular coronavirus is a new strain of viruses that belongs to a family of viruses known to cause flu-like symptoms!
• This virus in particular is pretty contagious – more than any virus in human history. Its rate of infectivity is pretty alarming. This explains how the virus was able to travel around the world so quickly in just a few months!
• The virus has influenza-like symptoms and it attacks the lungs and makes breathing difficult.
• The mortality rate of COVID 19 is about 2 to 5 percent in developed countries and most people who catch the virus survive it after two weeks.
• The symptoms vary in people but the common ones are fever, lack of energy, coughs, and shortage of breath.

I know that as parents you are concerned about your kids and looking for the best way to tell them about this new virus without making it sound too scary. You might also be wondering about how to keep them entertained inside the house now that schools are closed and the Dubai government is insisting on social isolation. If you have any of these concerns, please read along and hear my suggestions

A. 3 tips on how to talk to kids about the virus without scaring them: 

1. Stay calm
   Children usually sense our stress and react to our tone of voice. It is best that you give them some tips about the virus in a calm and relaxed manner before they pick up cues from your conversations with others or what they see and hear on TV. More importantly, please do talk to them about the coronavirus outbreak in Dubai and educate them. Our aim is to not teach them to be scared of the virus but to teach them awareness, problem-solving, and flexibility.

1. Make yourself available to listen and to talk.
   Ask them if they have any questions and be available and make your lovely children feel that they can come to you and talk about it. Assure them that you are going to figure this out as a family. At difficult times like these, we need to reassure them we are there for them and we are present for them. It's important to let them know it's ok…we will all be fine and we will pull through this together.

1. Watch out for what kids hear on television, radio, or online.

• Limit TV time and internet or social media access- so they don’t inadvertently watch something that they can see as “scary” for them.
• Constantly watching COVID 19 updates on television might increase anxiety in kids, and they will be soaking it up like a sponge. Do your best to watch as little as you can from the best sources out there. The problem with just watching the news is it can get scary and overwhelming for us as adults too. I always stick to trusted sources like WHO and CDC- as I feel their aim is not to scare but to inform.
• Talk to your child about the fact that not everything found on the net is fast and accurate. Children tend to believe everything they read!!

Tell your children that they need not worry about the virus and that their only job is to maintain better hygiene like washing their hands more often and avoid touching their eyes, their nose, and their mouth in public. Easy peasy.

B. Handwashing

• Turn handwashing into a fun game and maybe you could sing a song with your child during every hand wash to make it more exciting. A complete hand wash is similar to the one surgeons perform before entering an OR. They wash the hands with soap, rub the fingers, and massage their palms and also wash their wrists. It is advisable to sanitize hands with alcohol solution as well, but nothing works as well as a proper 20-second hand wash with soap. You can show your kids this handwashing video to give them a better idea or this one.:)

C. Covering their mouth and nose

• Another important thing is to remind your lovely children to cover their nose and mouth with clean tissue when sneezing or coughing. If they don’t have a tissue with them while a sneeze or a cough comes along, they should cover their mouth and nose with their elbow to avoid spreading germs. You could try buying tissues with cartoon patterns to make this more fun 

D. Keeping them entertained

Now that the schools are closed and going to the mall is not a very good option, see it as an opportunity to spend more time with your children in the house and create a stronger bond with them.

Here are four hints that could help you actually enjoy the isolation period:

1. Playing board games like Monopoly Junior
2. Having fun activities around the kitchen such as baking and coloring eggs
3. Watching educational cartoons
4. Video call sessions with friends and relatives

What we know is that worrying and anxiety reduce our immune system and my advice is to stay positive, hope for the best, and focus on keeping your family safe.  Your role as a caring parent is to make sure that your children get through this with ease and in the most comfortable way, so simply take my word as a pediatric dentist and just take all the preventive measures to keep your family and loved ones safe and happy.

At mypedia clinic, we are open for business and will be treating patients with dental emergencies. As the best Pediatric dentist in Dubai, we are happy to help children in this crucial period and keep offering our pediatric dentistry and pediatrics services through the dental clinic in Dubai. We are doing our best to keep the place super sanitized and clean and we are here for you as an emergency dental clinic.