Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
New Delhi, May 24
Top Indian paediatricians have been witnessing adult-like symptoms in child Covid patients, unlike the first wave when the disease in kids was largely asymptomatic.
Leading paediatrician at the PGI, Chandigarh, Dr Meenu Singh said children, during the second wave, had been experiencing respiratory symptoms, including fever, cough, runny nose, allergy, abdominal pain and fatigue, and even interruptions in food cycle.
“We are seeing more patients than before at the paediatrics facility at the PGI and are now starting to expand the paediatric infrastructure in other areas as well. Even in teleconsultations, I am getting many more calls than before about children getting Covid positive. Previously, we were seeing children nearing adolescence getting sick with Covid, but now we are seeing even younger children contracting the virus,” she told The Tribune on a day when the Indian Academy of Paediatricians clarified that the third wave would not impact children disproportionately, as was being thought.
In the last sero survey of Covid prevalence by the ICMR, it was found that the rate of disease prevalence in 10 to 17 year-olds was the same as in adults — 25 per cent — but with doctors seeing a growing number of children getting affected, it is unclear whether these trends will hold.
“Many children are now reporting respiratory problems, which was not the case in the previous wave when fever, rashes and Kawasaki disease were the common signs among Covid-positive children. Now, we are seeing respiratory distress like pneumonia (in children with Covid), which is an adult-like symptom,” Dr Meenu said, calling for policy interventions to create paediatric Covid response.
The recovery rate was also much better in children than in adults, she said, adding children were transmitting the virus to families. She advised masks for children aged two years and above and certainly for those aged five years and above.
Dr Meenu said children shouldn’t play in groups and social distancing was important. Indoor play was better, she noted, adding that families must see clinicians if their wards complained of fever, cough, weakness and abdominal pain and if a child with no history of allergy reported allergy.
