All hopes on ASHA if Covid-19 third wave strikes

Maharashtra has pinned its hopes on ASHA workers in the management of Covid19 in children along with the state paediatric task force The state has around 68000 ASHA Accredited Social Health Activists personnel whose help will be taken to educate people monitor and manage the mild form of Covid19 which is 909537 of total paediatric Covid19 casesMembers of the state paediatric task force explained ASHA workers the symptoms of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome with photos in the webinarChief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday urged ASHA workers in a webinar to create awareness about making villages novel Coronavirusfree and said they had an important role to play to stop a possible third wave that could affect childrenlsquoA special bond with peoplersquoldquoASHA workers share a special bond with the people in their area The doortodoor work done by them will be helpful for us to handle the possible third wave in children It is clinically observed that 909537 of the total children affected by Covid19 have a mild form that can be treated at home with a daily follow up by teleconsultation in nearby fever clinics This is where ASHA workers will play a key rolerdquo said Dr Suhas Prabhu paediatrician and chairperson of the state paediatric task force who was part of the webinarAlso ReadASHA workers role significant to prevent possible third wave Uddhav ThackerayldquoAn ASHA workerrsquos main job is to remove the fear from parentsrsquo minds on Covid19 affecting their child and encourage them to approach the fever clinic and get the child tested if the doctor feels sordquo added Dr PrabhuFocus on comorbid kidsThe state paediatric task force highlighted that ASHA workers should pay more attention to children with comorbidities like cardiovascular disease hypertension diabetes immunocompromised states chronic diseases of lung kidney liver obesity etc ldquoChildren with comorbidities like obesity are at high risk when they get Covid19 We are educating ASHA workers to keep a tab on such children so if they are found positive for Covid19 they need close monitoring and may need to be shifted to pediatric Covid19 centre and kept under medical observationrdquo said Dr Vijay Yewale paediatrician and member of the state paediatric task force The doctors said that while most of the children can be treated at home 14 days of quarantine is a must and they should be kept away from senior citizens at homeThe doctors also guided the ASHA workers on identifying Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in children thatrsquos reported post Covid19 recovery In MISC some organs and tissues mdash such as the heart lungs blood vessels kidneys digestive system brain skin or eyes mdash become severely inflamed Symptoms include fever that lasts 24 hours or longer vomiting diarrhea etc ldquoWe have shared a pictorial depiction of MISC so that ASHA workers can identify and guide the parents This way we will save precious timerdquo said Dr Yewale Apart from how to treat Covid19 positive children at home if the symptoms are mild and the nutritious diet that they should follow the first webinar held for ASHA workers also focused on how to take care of a childrsquos mental healthDr Samir Dalwai developmental behavioural pediatrician and member of state paediatric task force guided the ASHA workers on helping the parents on a childrsquos mental health ldquoThe ASHA workers were trained to work on psychosocial problems due to Covid since they are well connected to the families in villages The training included how to recognise signs how to guide parents to deal with this how to keep children well occupied at home and what parents should avoidrdquo said Dr DalwaiWhile praising the ASHA workers for their efforts Thackeray appealed to them to guide the parents and reassure them so that they donrsquot get scared68000No of ASHA workers in Maharashtra