Harmattan: Take extra care of sickle cell, asthmatic kids; doctor advises parents

Parents of children with sickle cell as well as asthma in Ghana have been advised to give special attention and care to them as schools reopen with the harmattan season raging on. By dictionary definition, harmattan is as a dry and dusty wind which blows from the Sahara over the Atlantic coast of West Africa in December, January and February, being a hot wind in some areas and cold wind in others. As Ghana is currently experiencing the season, Dr. Yaa Achia Boateng, a family physician specialist at GHAPOHA Hospital in Takorad, in an interview with Connect News on Tuesday, advised parents to dress their wards appropriately to suit the weather to avoid any unforeseen circumstances with respect to the children’s health. She emphasised that the weather is dry and thus children with such health conditions can have breathing challenges and can easily dehydrate if extra care is not given them. Giving some tit-bits on protecting asthmatic and sickle cell patients, Dr. Achia Boateng suggested that parents should let the children wear cardigans especially when going to school and, also teach and urge them to use asthmatic inhalers when the need be. She again asked parents to provide enough drinking water for their wards to avoid possible dehydration especially sickle cell children. She also advised parents to ensure that fingernails of their wards are trimmed so that they don’t use them to pick their nostrils to avoid possible injury which may lead to bleeding in the nose. By Loveridge Ampratwum Okyere | Connect 97.1FM |editors.3news.com