THE second wave of Novel Coronavirus has left the city with little room to wriggle out of the crisis. As the number of positive patients sees an exponential rise every passing day, a large chunk of children is also getting infected by the virus. Though there is no official data from the government on impact of COVID-19 on children, city paediatricians have acknowledged that there are more cases of children with coronavirus now as compared to last year. Many children in the age group of four and 14 years are testing positive. Most are presenting varied symptoms and a few have required hospitalisation. Nevertheless, more children testing positive has kept families on tenterhooks. The big silver lining in the current situation is, the kids are showing phenomenal recovery. Of course, the treatment has to backed by strict precautions, diet regime and monitoring, said city paediatricians.

 

 

“Lots of kids in the age group of 4 yrs and 14 yrs are getting infected by Covid-19. This was not the scenario a few months ago. Call it a change in mutant or changing nature of the virus but one thing is clear, children are at risk;” averred Dr Vishram Buche, well-known senior paediatrician. Dr Himanshu Dua, Associate Professor of Paediatrics, NKP Salve Institute of Medical Sciences, felt that mutating nature of the virus was now infecting children too. “One more reason is medical fraternity has now learned a lot about the virus. They can detect infections at an earlier stage that is why number of positive patients is looking high. The most important thing is increase in testing. Earlier, people were either reluctant to get tested or there were very few centres. Now, families are getting tested even if there is one patient. This has, in fact, helped in detecting infection in children,” Dr Dua added. Another paediatrician Dr Saurabh Kubde also acknowledged that the number of infected children was definitely high. “It is because of the changing character of the virus. Children are susceptible to the change.

 

Some of them are also getting serious,” he said. Relaxation in lockdown and dip in cases also played a major role in putting kids at a greater risk. Children were at home during the first wave when schools switched to on-line mode and other activities were also halted. “People had really become casual after the first wave. The large number of infections, even in kids, is result of lowering the guard,” said Dr Buche. However, Dr Kubde chose to differ. “I would say it were the children who followed the lockdown strictly. There were no schools, no gardens, no sports. Even after the lockdown was relaxed, kids hardly ventured out to big gatherings. They are now getting infected as the virus has infected people around them,” he said. According to experts, children can recover very fast from the infection but they are considered super-spreaders. This is imperative for the parents to keep a strict tab on their wards’ movements. “The situation is not alarming as far as kids are compared.

 

They possess very good immunity than the elders. It helps in quicker recovery even in highly-infected COVID cases. In many cases, I have seen children getting back to normal within a few days. However, that does not mean one should take the problem lightly,” warned Dr Buche. Dr Dua concurred with the senior practitioner. “The best part is children below 12 years are recovering within three to five days. They are turning asymptomatic after the first bout of flu. It is the adolescent and young population that is more at risk of the virus,” he said. “The immunity apparatus in kids is really good. They recover pretty quickly. In fact, childhood immunisation is helping the children get over the COVID-19 infection really well,” added Dr Kubde. On the way ahead, the specialists stressed on social distancing, mask and sanitisation. “The way ahead is S M S. Social distancing, Mask, Sanitising. There is no need to panic. Stay cool, stay home and stay safe,” said Dr Dua. Dr Kubde has advised the parents of positive patients at home to strictly adhere to COVID-appropriate behavior.

 

“Isolation remains the only cure for positive children. It may not be possible for nursing mothers. But they need to take care of breast hygiene and hand hygiene,” he said. Dr Buche chose mythology to drive home his point. “This is the year of survival. The key here is to remain calm and composed. There should be no panic at all. Remember what the Pandavas army did in Mahabharata when Ashwathama fired the ‘Narayan Astra’; they put down their weapons, stayed calm and let the ‘Astra’ cool down. Same thing is needed in this situation. Stay home, stay calm, stay safe.”