COVID-19: Four Paediatric Cases in Malaysia

OBJECTIVE

This is a brief report of 4 paediatric cases of COVID-19 infection in Malaysia BACKGROUND: COVID-19, a coronavirus, first detected in Wuhan, China has now spread rapidly to over 60 countries and territories around the world, infecting more than 85000 individuals. As the case count amongst children is low, there is need to report COVID-19 in children to better understand the virus and the disease.

CASES

In Malaysia, until end of February 2020, there were four COVID-19 paediatric cases with ages ranging from 20 months to 11 years. All four cases were likely to have contracted the virus in China. The children had no symptoms or mild flu-like illness. The cases were managed symptomatically. None required antiviral therapy.

DISCUSSION

There were 2 major issues regarding the care of infected children. Firstly, the quarantine of an infected child with a parent who tested negative was an ethical dilemma. Secondly, oropharyngeal and nasal swabs in children were at risk of false negative results. These issues have implications for infection control. Consequently, there is a need for clearer guidelines for child quarantine and testing methods in the management of COVID-19 in children.

DMF-T index in patients undergoing radiation therapy with LINAC X-ray radiation for head and neck cancer at Department of Radiotherapy, Dr. Hasan Sadikin Hospital

Radiation therapy for head and neck cancer frequently caused severe salivary gland dysfunction. The salivary gland dysfunction possibly decreased the protective function of saliva and caused dental caries. The purpose of this study was to obtain an illustration about DMF-T index in patient undergoing radiation therapy with LINAC X-ray radiation for head and neck cancer at Department of Radiotherapy, Dr. Hasan Sadikin Hospital in January-February 2007. The study was a simple descriptive. The study was conducted on 7 males and 9 females undergoing radiation therapy with LINAC X-ray radiation for head and neck cancer. The ages of patient are between 37 years and 77 years. The severity of caries was measured by DMF-T index. DMF-T index in 16 patient undergoing radiation therapy with LINAC X-ray radiation for head and neck cancer at Dr. Hasan Sadikin Hospital is 10.6 as the result of this study. The conclusion of this study showed that the DMF-T index in 16 patient undergoing radiation therapy with LINAC X-ray radiation for head and neck cancer at Dr. Hasan Sadikin Hospital had very high grade based on WHO classification, which the value was over 6.6.