As the next wave is expected to hit kids more, paediatricians would make recommendations on their diagnosis, tests and treatment
A health worker tests a child for Covid-19 in Kurla. File pic
The third Covid-19 wave to likely hit kids in large numbers and the preparations to tackle it have begun. A nine-member panel of paediatricians would be meeting Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray over video call on Thursday with recommendations for the same.
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Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP), the largest body of paediatricians in India working with the government on children’s health, has prepared guidelines to tackle Covid-19 in children. It is believed that after the virus hit the younger population in the second wave, children would be affected more in the third wave. The city is already seeing considerable paediatric Covid-19 cases.
The IAP would be giving the State and its task force on diagnosing and testing Covid-19 in children, how parents should take care, the treatment protocol to be followed and the identification of centres with beds and ICUs earmarked for children. “We should not be caught unaware when the third wave hits us and if it brings a rise in paediatric Covid-19 cases. We estimate that there’d be a requirement of roughly 1,000 beds, including 100 beds with ventilators,” said Dr Bakul Parekh, one of the panel members.
Centres identified
The nine-member team has identified a few centres in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), including JJ hospital, BYL Nair Hospital, Wadia Children’s Hospital, SRCC Hospital, Jupiter Hospital, MGM hospital and Apollo hospital in Vashi.
The IAP has shared its treatment protocol with the government and with paediatricians. Dr Parekh suggested that we may require more oxygen, steroids and in some cases, remdesivir.
Dr Vinay Joshi, senior consultant, paediatrics and cardiac paediatrics at SRCC Hospital, said that in the second wave, the hospital has admitted 40-50 children, among which the youngest was a 16-day-old child and the oldest was a 16-year-old. “In the first wave, we hardly saw any cases. In this wave, we are seeing an increased number of Covid-19 infections that are more lethal. Many children’s lungs have been impacted. Some needed ventilator and oxygen support. In some cases, we did use remdesivir, which wasn’t used at all last year in children,” said Dr Joshi, who is also the president of IAP, Mumbai. He said SRCC has 22 beds for Covid-19 and it has seen almost 60 per cent occupancy at any given time in the second wave. “We have 10 beds for ICU, which has been consistently full,” said Dr Joshi. He added that parents are allowed to stay with the child if they are negative with a mask and kit.
Talking about the psychological management of Covid-19 in children, Dr Samir H Dalwai, developmental behavioural paediatrician and joint secretary, IAP said, “We generally think children don’t have serious psychological issues. Children have seen so much death in and around the family that they can exhibit psychological issues. One should look out for changes in behaviour like sudden hyper activeness, irritability, clinginess, being aggressive, crying episodes, etc. in children in the family or in the neighbourhood.”
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