As India continues to grapple with the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, several children below the age of 18 and newborns have tested positive for Covid-19.
A scientists’ panel set up by the Department of Science and Technology under the government of India said India’s second wave of Covid-19 is expected to decline by July this year. However, a third wave of the pandemic is expected to break out in about six to eight months.
Experts say that children will be the most vulnerable during the third wave of the pandemic as they are yet to be inoculated against the possible Covid-19 infection.
States like Odisha, where the spread of the infection seems prominent in children, have set up special task forces on paediatrics in anticipation of the third wave.
As per a report, around 30,000 children younger than 14 years were infected in the state till now.
Despite assurances from state health officials that all necessary arrangements have been in place, the source said that the present infrastructure would be overwhelmed at the arrival of the third wave of Covid 19.
Dr Bishwajit Mishra, a paediatrician of the city-based Jagannath Hospital, said, “The second Covid wave is gradually affecting everybody, at first older people, then younger ones and now it’s slowly affecting those below 18 years. Of the total infections daily reported in the state, 10-15 per cent are kids which will increase during the third wave.
Fast vaccination could induce immunity in a large proportion of people. The number of susceptible people will be significantly less after the second wave. However, with children being kept out of the vaccination programme, they will be more vulnerable than ever.
Mishra said, in this situation parents must be careful in taking all types of precautions to make their kids safe. This includes making them wear face masks. They should also regularly wash their hands. In the US, they had started vaccine for 12-16 years age group. In India, the government has allowed Bharat Biotech to conduct Covaxin’s Phase II and Phase III clinical trials on children in the two-18 age group.
Odisha Thursday reported its highest single-day toll due to Covid infection with as many as 25 people succumbing to the disease in the last 24 hours. Maintaining a steady rate of infection positivity, the state also witnessed over 11,000 new coronavirus cases in the past one day. The new fatalities have pushed the overall toll in the state to 2403
“We must focus on improving health facilities for children to save them from the imminent third wave. In the capital, many private hospitals have facilities for tackling the situation. But in western Odisha, we need more facilities,” Mishra said.
Dr Mrutunjay Dash, Professor, Department of Paediatrics, SUM Hospital, said the reason for the second wave to affect kids is because the Covid strain is mutated in a notorious way. Symptoms such as muscle pain, stomach pain, diarrhoea, skin rashes, among others are noticeable among kids.
Dash said parents must ensure that if they are symptomatic then they must start taking precautions for their kids. They should start consulting doctors and must start medicines also.
Dr Arjit Mohapatra, neonatologist and head of Translational Research, AIPH University and Jagannath Hospital in Bhubaneswar, said in the first wave children were not exposed to much risk. However, the second wave of the coronavirus has changed the way the virus could impact kids.
Stating that various strains or mutants of coronavirus are the reason behind the spike, Mohapatra said the fast mutation of the virus is the main cause for impacting children in the second wave. This will be a bigger problem in the third wave. In such a situation if the third wave strikes, our available infrastructure will not be sufficient to handle the menace, he added.
Dr Braja Kishore Behera, another child expert of Sum Hospital, said at present there isn’t enough infrastructure at the paediatrician level. The government is planning to set up special hospitals for children but they will not be ready soon enough to tackle the third level.
As part of the preparation, the state government formed a committee to manage Covid-19 . The panel has been tasked with works like suggesting preparedness measures, including augmentation, training of human resources to deal with Covid-affected children and formulate SOPs.
Recently, the state government issued an advisory asking parents to ensure that children older than two years wear face masks while stepping out of their homes.
Prof Dr CBK Mohanty, chief of Directorate of Medical Education and Training (DMET) and chairman of this committee, said the present cases of kids are not dangerous. They show very mild symptoms. But we’re prepared for the danger and will increase the number of beds if it is found necessary for the children. We have necessary beds and units for every kind of patients, he added.
Director of Health and Family welfare Dr Bijay Panigrahi said, “We are in talk with several paediatricians for creating SOPs for the safety of kids during the third wave. He said at present, vaccination for kids is not an option so we are looking at improving facilities available at Covid hospitals.
Khurda Chief District Medical Officer Dr VR Pati said Khurda district has enough intensive child care units for newborns at Capital Hospital and others. However, for other young kids, the facilities need to be strengthened.
Arindam Ganguly, OP