Severity of future Covid-19 waves on kids speculatory, says top paediatrician | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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Severity of future Covid-19 waves on kids speculatory, says top paediatrician

By | Written by Avik Roy, New Delhi
Jul 21, 2021 05:52 PM IST

Covid-19 vaccine for pregnant women and lactating mothers will give protection to the developing foetus and the newborn against the deadly virus, the doctor said.

A top paediatrician called it speculatory on Wednesday if the future waves of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) would affect children with increased severity.

Covid-19 in children: The pandemic can have a severe effect on children’s mental and physical health owing to factors such as confinement at home, illnesses in the family and stress from job loss for parents or financial insecurity. (File photo)
Covid-19 in children: The pandemic can have a severe effect on children’s mental and physical health owing to factors such as confinement at home, illnesses in the family and stress from job loss for parents or financial insecurity. (File photo)

Dr Praveen Kumar, the director of the department of paediatrics at New Delhi's Lady Hardinge Medical College, also said that the mortality rate in children is lower as compared to adults and said the rare instances of fatalities among children have been found to in those with comorbidities.

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"Whether the future waves will affect children more or with increased severity are speculations. People speculate that future waves may affect children more as most of the adults will be vaccinated in the next few months while we do not have any approved vaccine for children at this point," Dr Kumar said, advising the people to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour at their home and limit their social engagements to reduce the chance of contracting the infection and passing them on children.

Speaking on the impact of Covid-19 on children, Dr Kumar said that the pandemic can have a severe effect on children’s mental and physical health owing to factors such as confinement at home, illnesses in the family and stress from job loss for parents or financial insecurity.

"Children may express psychological distress (sadness) by acting out differently as each child behaves differently. Some may become silent while others may express anger and hyperactivity," Dr Kumar said.

"Though we don’t know how the virus is going to behave and affect children in the future, we need to protect our children from the contagion," he added.

The leading paediatrician said that caregivers should show patience with children and make an attempt at understanding their emotions. He suggested watching out for signs of psychological changes in children.

"Look for signs of stress in young children, which could be excessive worry or sadness, unhealthy eating or sleeping habits, and difficulty with attention and concentration. Families also need to support children to cope with stress and also allay their anxiety," he said.

Dr Kumar said the vaccine available for pregnant women and lactating mothers "will give a certain degree of protection to the growing foetus and newborn against the deadly infection."

The child health expert said that the deadly second wave of Covid-19 has affected children equally.

"Covid-19 is a new virus and it affects all age groups because we do not have natural immunity against this virus," he said, pointing at data from the National Centre for Disease Control / Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme dashboard which showed approximately 12% of the Covid-19 infection was contributed by patients less than 20 years of age.

Recent surveys have shown similar seropositivity in children and adults. "However, due to a larger number of people getting affected during the second wave of the pandemic, the number of infected children was more as compared to the first wave. However, the mortality rate in children so far is lower as compared to adults and is usually seen in children with comorbidities," Dr Kumar said.

The doctor, however, cautioned against a new syndrome seen among infants as well as adolescents, called the multisystem inflammatory syndrome. He said three types of clinical course have been observed — persistent fever with raised inflammatory parameters, classical Kawasaki disease-like presentation and shock, left ventricular dysfunction with the inotropic requirement.

He said most patients report it two-to-six weeks after the peak of Covid-­19 infections in the affected population.

"For establishing the diagnosis of MIS-C, advanced investigations are required. All suspected cases should be referred and managed in a tertiary care hospital with HDU/ICU facility. If identified early, all these cases can be treated," Dr Kumar said.


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