Health

Late detection of CHD increases risk: Dr Tappoo

August 11, 2022 6:40 am

Doctor Tappoo says 78 children were screened at the Nausori Health Center yesterday whereby five children tested positive for congenital heart disease while three were diagnosed with rheumatic heart disease. [File Photo]

Congenital heart disease cases among children need to be identified earlier as the situation gets more complex when they get older, says Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Hospital Director Doctor Krupali Tappoo.

Doctor Tappoo says 78 children were screened at the Nausori Health Center yesterday whereby five children tested positive for congenital heart disease while three were diagnosed with rheumatic heart disease.

She says the longer it takes for congenital heart defects to be detected, the greater the risk it poses to a child.

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“The lesson should be that it should be early detection. We have had children as old as 16 year old who have been operated on and we know that as children get older, it can become more and more complex because there is blood vessels that has formed between the heart and the lungs so really the first five years of life are the most crucial.”

Dr. Tappoo is urging parents to be aware of the signs and symptoms.

“The things that they need to look out for if your child is having repeated chest infection, cough, not gaining weight, and if they are feeding but not gaining weight or when they are young and feeding and sweating alot. If you look at your children and they are breathing fast, they just don’t look right you need to get them screened.”

Dr Tappoo adds some of the local doctors and nurses have also been working with the visiting teams and this will build their local capacity.