E-Paper
Pune district: 0.3% of those aged below 20 years have succumbed to Covid-19
Since a Covid-19 vaccine for children is yet to be allowed in the country, those aged below 18 years are thought to be a vulnerable population. The current data shows that of the over 18,575 deaths reported due to Covid-19, 57 deaths are of those below the age of 20 in Pune district
Despite anticipation about a third Covid-19 wave affecting children, data shows that 0.3% of those aged below 20 years have succumbed to the Covid-19 infection.
Since a Covid-19 vaccine for children is yet to be allowed in the country, those aged below 18 years are thought to be a vulnerable population. The current data shows that of the over 18,575 deaths reported due to Covid-19, 57 deaths are of those below the age of 20 in Pune district.
As of August 21, of the 57 deaths of those aged below 20 years, 20 are in the 0-10-year group and 37 are in the 11-20- year age group, which accounts for 0.3% of those who succumbed to Covid-19 in the district.
Out of the 57, the maximum deaths were reported from Pune city which is 37. Sixteen are from Pune rural, including villages, nagar parishads and cantonments, and four from PCMC.
The mortality rate among children has been constant due to Covid-19. The state had also reported 266 deaths due to the infection in the age group of 0-20 years, of the over 47,000 deaths reported as of December 2020. This puts the mortality rate of this age group at 0.5% in the state.
Experts believe that although children could remain symptomatic during the course of a Covid-19 infection, they are highly susceptible to post Covid-19 infections and could also behave as spreaders in the first two weeks of the infection. Dr Sagar Lad, a paediatrician who works as a consultant at multiple city hospitals said, “It is true that children do not show severe symptoms or deaths due to Covid-19. However, the worrying trend is that most children who remain asymptomatic or with mild symptoms during the acute Covid-19 period, could act as a spreader of the infection to others in the family for the first two weeks, and then the post Covid-19 complications begin. The multi-inflammatory syndrome in children, also known as MIS-C, leads to more complications are we are getting a few cases even now. MIS-C primarily includes high grade fever about 102-103 in some cases, diarrhoea, red eyes, rashes on the body and other viral flu like presentation. The reason for this is the high number of IgG antibodies in children which leads to a cytokine storm and thus inflammation and damage to vessels and tissues.”
