Paediatricians to soon answer parents’ queries

A child undergoes Covid-19 test at Halav Pull, Kurla West, on April 11. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

How to identify Covid-19 symptoms in children during the expected third wave? With experts warning that the third wave would affect kids even more, guidelines have been prepared with the aim to nip the illness in the bud. Parents have been asked to watch out for early signs like cold, cough and digestion-related issues.

mid-day has access to the detailed guidelines the Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP) has submitted to the government. According to the IAP, parents should watch out for cold, mild cough, fever and body pain, which are the common symptoms of Covid-19. They should also be on the lookout for abdominal pain, diarrhoea and vomiting, which were noted among children infected during the second wave.

To ease their stress and answer queries, the IAP plans to hold zoom activities with parents' associations soon. They are also welcoming schools to reach out to them. Doctors said enquiries from parents have gone up after the news about children facing more risk during the third wave. "We have been getting a significant number of calls from worried parents asking about Covid-19 in children. I receive at least 8-10 queries a day. The idea behind a guideline for parents was to make them aware and at the same time ensure they do not panic," said Dr Vinay Joshi, president, IAP (Mumbai).

Since March last year, 11,144 children in the age group of 0-9 were infected and 17 died, while 28,869 youngsters aged between 10-19 were infected and 33 died. Paediatricians said that children should be tested for Covid-19 only if family members have been infected or when the child is symptomatic.

As per the IAP, more than 60-70 per cent of infected children were asymptomatic and only about 1-2 per cent of symptomatic children needed ICU treatment. "Children with pre-existing diseases like heart, kidney and liver disease, or children with low immunity are at high risk. It is good to take tele-consultation, instead of taking the child to the doctor," said Dr Joshi. Paediatricians said that the common question they get is if the second wave is more serious than the first, and if yes then why. "The number of people infected is much higher during the second wave; proportionately, the total number of children infected has also increased. This is probably due to a mutated virus in a setting where the population was casual about precautions. It seems to spread very rapidly and we see entire families getting infected," said Dr Bakul Parekh, one of the chairpersons of the IAP Parent Guideline Committee.

50
No. of deaths in the 0-19 age group since March 2020