Pune: Paediatric Corona Ward of YCM hospital saves 175 COVID-19 positive children

Pune: A dedicated Paediatric Corona Ward' for treating children under 12 years of age affected by the COVID-19 disease has proved to be a strategic move for the Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial (YCM) hospital in Pimpri-Chinchwad city. This special ward has saved the lives of 175 children in the last 100 days since the first patient was identified in the city.

The first patient was identified in Pimpri-Chinchwad in March. The municipal corporation authorities decided to start the special ward for treating children and it was operational from April 26. In April, 13 children were treated, while 17 in May, 102 in June and 43 in July so far have got treatment and recovered healthily from the disease. All these paediatric patients were from 1 to 12 years of age group. Most of these children had a fever as a common and major symptom other than cough and cold.

Dr Deepali Ambike, Head of Paediatric Department at Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial (YCM) Hospital said, "Almost 80 per cent of children were allowed to stay with their mother in the ward. Infants develop immunity from their mother's milk. We had 2 days, 12 days and 16 days old babies in the ward. Other children had a low risk of getting infected if they stayed with their mother. If the child is kept away from his mother, he gets distracted and doesn't respond well to the treatment. We presumed the child and his mother - both to be COVID-19 positive and gave them treatment accordingly. Mother and child, both were tested for COVID-19 after 14 days of treatment and then discharged if their report came negative."

"Initially, seven children including five from Rupeenagar in Nigdi and two from Bhosari were admitted in the hospital. They were kept under observation during treatment for 14 days. After that, we again took swab samples of them and when the test report came negative, we discharged them and allowed them to go home. Pimpri-Chinchwad is the only city in the state to achieve a zero fatality rate in COVID-19 positive children," she said.

COVID-19 recovered children:

• April- 13
• May- 17
• June- 102
• July- 43
• Total- 175
• Active cases- 10