Bhubaneswar: Medical experts studying the trend of COVID-19 in the state claim that the second wave of the pandemic is more contagious and severe than the first wave owing to mutations.
Dr Swayam Pragan Parida, Associate Professor (Community Medicine) at All India Institute of Medial Sciences (AIIMS), Bhubaneswar said that the intrusion of several mutations in COVID-19 virus has made it more complex.
“There are more than 100 reported mutations of the virus. We are already seeing the highly contagious strains of UK and Brazilian varieties. Now we have a double mutated virus strain specific to the country which is causing more trouble in the second wave,” Dr Parida said.
“Now we see that the transmission power of the virus has increased and thus we are seeing more infections. The severity of the cases has also increased. The attitude of irresponsible citizens has added to the woes. In many cases, the immunity garnered through the first wave also seems to be failing,” she explained.
She also added that unlike the first wave, in the second wave, kids and youths are getting more infected with the virus. Other experts also claimed that the second wave is proving aggressive against the kids which were not much affected in the first wave.
“In the second wave, children between the ages of 1 year and 5 years are more likely to be infected. In India, people between the ages of 20 year and 40 years are also prone to the infection. But certain categories of people are being vaccinated by the government, which is not enough and the emphasis is on producing more vaccines,” Dr Manoj Sahu, a gastroenterologist from the city said. Dr Sahu is working with the World Health Organisation (WHO) on hepatitis and COVID-19 disease.
Dr Braj Kishore Behera, a pediatrician from the city admitted that in the second wave, more kids have become victims of the disease. “But the symptoms seen in kids are different. Infected kids, unlike adults, show gastrointestinal issues like diarrhea while in few cases blood clotting issues in intestine are also seen which need emergency attention,” he said.
He also advised parents to get vaccinated as early as possible to provide a protection and also shun socialization of kids, as of now, to prevent them from potential exposure to the virus.
PNN