KIDS: There have been several instances of kids as young as eight and ten years testing positive in various parts of the country. The Goa bench of the Bombay High Court has asked the State government to prepare for the third wave which is likely to affect children the worst.

By Soumya Chatterjee

Apparently children under the age of 10 are not immune to covid-19. There are reports that more then 40,000 kids under the age of 9 years have tested positive in Karnataka in the last two months. The number of children testing positive in the past two months is 143% of the kids testing positive. However, the deaths have been only 28 in number till March 18, 2021 with 15 more dying since then till May 18, 2021. This seems to be the beginning of community infection as within two days of a child being found infected, the rest of the family also tested positive, according to a leading paediatrician Dr Srinivas Kasi. In the majority of the cases the children were the first to get infected in the family. It has been the experience of doctors that children get infected easily and spread the virus very fast, since they come in close contact with adults at home.

The Karnataka government on May 18 announced a slew of children-specific measures for the first time in COVID-19 management in the state. Woman and Child Welfare Minister Shashikala Jolle said the government will set up rehabilitation centres for orphans and pediatric COVID Care Centres in all districts. The minister said an action plan has been formulated to cater to children in four scenarios— both parents are deceased, both parents hospitalized, one parent deceased and the other hospitalised, one parent is hospitalized and other is out of station. IAS officer Mohan Raj has been appointed the nodal officer for this initiative. Jolle also warned that people should not fall for rumours and illegally adopt children without government intervention.
This comes after the Child Right Commission in Karnataka on May 12 wrote to the state government to take holistic measures to safeguard children fearing that the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic will impact children more than ever before. A letter written by Father Anthony Sebastian, the Chairperson of the Commission, said that the pandemic has already seen many children orphaned due to the death of parents even though the percentage of children contracting the infection remains low as of now.
The Commission had suggested a slew of measures that the government takes to deal with the crisis adequately. Among other suggestions, the letter asked for a task force to be created consisting of paediatrics and mental health professionals like therapists and neurosurgeons. Among non-medical interventions, the Commission wanted the government to increase interventions to stop child trafficking of those children who have lost parents to the virus.

Here is what the commission had recommended to the government:

• In order to avoid the increasing number of children affected, the medical infrastructure required for the betterment of the safety and health of the child must be carefully and effectively established. Therefore, essential medical aid should be provided. Deploy a task force for the same.
• Isolation centres for kids should be made available and there should be infrastructure and systems in place for the kids testing COVID-19 positive. These centres should have all facilities.
• Reservation of minimum and fixed number of beds for children infected in all district and government-run and private hospitals
• Create quota sources for relevant District Officers’ studies
• To work with the state’s paediatrician and specialist on the cost of treating infected children, the necessary equipment and procedures, and the provision of such facilities should be immediately prepared.
• For the treatment of these children, Maharashtra-style hospitals have to be opened and medical facilities provided.
• It is requested to implement the above recommendations with a view to safeguarding children’s constitutional rights and the constitutional right to life.

Expert view on children’s vulnerability

“We should expect more children to get infected in the third wave. There are only two ways to get immunity— one is by vaccination and another is if you get COVID (People develop antibodies via natural infection),” Dr V Ravi, veteran virologist and part of Karnataka’s Technical Advisory Committee told TNM. “In the first and second waves, the number of children infected was very low. And right now, there is no vaccine for children, so common sense tells us that children will be more vulnerable and susceptible to infection in the third wave,” he added.
To prevent infection parents are obliged to check the childs respiratory rates and temperature every 8 hours. The hand of the child should be kept on a hard surface with the oxymeter switched on for 30 seconds. If the child is under five and the saturation rate is below 95 he should immidiately be referred to the doctor. Goa should get its paediatric ward ready for treating. If children develope high fever, rashes, abdominal pain loose stools vomitting and cold hands and feet, this may be a signal that they are getting covid-19.
If children get infected it will be a major challenge as there are more than 165 million children below the age of 10. Unlike adults it is difficult to isolate children or force them to take rest. We should consider whether as in the US we should start vaccinating children from the age of 12. It is not however clear if the vaccines developed for adults will work on children. Even with other pharma products the doses given to children are much smaller. The general principle is that the doses for children should be in proportion with their age and body weight. Bharat Biotech which is producing CoWaxin has already started clinical trial of vaccines for children. An Indian Pharma company has developed 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) in collabration with the Directorate of Research and development to prevent covid-19. However the clinical trials are not complete and it has been authorised only for emergency use.
Unlike the case in adults it will be difficult to create the right infra-structure for kids. The paediatric ward of the GMC has a capacity of less then 100 beds. The intensive care unit of the paediatric department can only cater to 50 children. An entirely new infra-structure have to be created for the third wave if it affects children. In the meanwhile vaccination of the rest of the categories including the 18 to 45 group should be completed. Unfortunately due to prior commitments covishield which was suppose to supply 5 lakh dosesby May will be able to do so only by late June 2021.

Coutersy:www.thenewsminute.com