HYDERABAD: Symptoms of Tonsillitis are mostly similar to Covid-19 and can cause worry among parents during this pandemic. As tonsillitis is common among most of the children especially during monsoon and winter, one may get confused with the disease with COVID and further compound their problems being created by pandemic. Sore throat leads to difficulty in swallowing, scratchy sounding voice, bad breath, fever, headache, stiff neck thus leading to poor appetite are the most common symptoms of this disease among children.
Depending upon the persistence of the symptoms, it needs to classify as normal, acute, chronic, says Dr. Syed Abdul Hakeem, Consultant ENT Surgeon at Apollo Spectra Hospital, Kondapur, Hyderabad. “When the symptoms mentioned above are continuing for more than two to three days coupled with fever, pain then it is advised to contact the doctor. Depending upon the severity and history of the disease the doctor may advise the treatment. If it is turning into acute and i n t o a chronic disease, then the doctor’s will recommend the surgical procedure named Tonsillectomy through will infected Tonsils are removed from the body,” says the doctor with over 19 years of experience in ENT.
“As children are tend to play in playgrounds and on roads every day at school or at home, they expose themselves to variety of viruses and bacteria. As Tonsils are your first line of defense against these bacteria and viruses, they became vulnerable to infection easily. In order to reduce the chances of infecting Tonsils, it is advised to drink plenty of water, gargle with warm water every day, avoid polluting environment, clean hands regularly and maintain hygiene after playing or coming back from schools. With all the above measures, one can reduce the chances of getting infected thus safe guarding Tonsils thus saving our first line of defense against any infection that may cause several diseases that includes Covid-19,” says Dr Hakeem.