Yesterday, the Gazette’s designer noticed mucus coming from her one-year-old son’s ear. When she took his temperature, he had a fever.
She called her local health centre’s number and was told not to bring the child in unless it was an emergency. She was told to wait overnight and contact the health centre in the morning if symptoms persisted.
Later, the pediatrician called and repeated the advice that children were not to go to the centre except in a case of emergency, then told her to come to a back entry of the centre. There, the doctor quickly examined the child and issued a prescription.
The doctor recommended Dalsy, the most popular brand of children’s ibuprofen in Spain. When asked about the recent warnings about ibuprofen and its effect on coronavirus sufferers, the doctor said “It’s been announced that it’s fine.”
At the farmacia, entry was also prohibited to children. However, the staff were extremely helpful and issued all the necessary medicines.
The lessons are clear:
- Keep kids home Thankfully, small children aren’t in a high risk group for the virus. However, they have been shown to carry and spread the disease. That’s why the government’s emergency measures effectively order them to be kept permanently at home,and only taken outdoors in an emergency. The rules do allow people to travel to care for children, so if you’re a single parent try and get a friend to nip round and babysit when you really need to go out to shop etc.
- Don’t stop taking ibuprofen The Spanish Health Service agrees with the NHS that there is no convincing evidence that ibuprofen aggravates the symptoms of COVID 19 coronavirus (although the French health ministry has told citizens to avoid the drug). If your child or you have been told to take ibuprofen by a doctor, Spanish health professionals warn that it actually could be more risky to interrupt the treatment. If you’re just buying painkillers over the counter, you can make your own mind up.
Health centre telephone numbers:
Puerto del Carmen: 928 117220
Tias: 928 524240
Costa Teguise: 928 117840
Playa Blanca: 928 117002
Playa Honda: 928 211370
Villa de Teguise: 928 118693
Arrecife Valterra: 928 597110
Arrecife Titerroy: 928 118638
San Bartolomé: 928 118623
Tinajo: 928 455025
Haría: 928 835621
Mala: 928 306560
Tahiche: 928 843702
Yaiza: 928 830190
