Odisha: Infant beats Covid after 10 days on ventilator

BHUBANESWAR: Gudia was found positive for Covid-19 within two weeks of her birth on March 22.
When she was barely one-month-old, she had to be put on ventilator support for 10 days. After another 10 days hospitalization later, the infant came out of a private hospital in Bhubaneswar fully recovered on Thursday.
Ankit Agarwal (32) and his wife Preeti (29), natives of M Rampur in Kalahandi district, had their first child born at a hospital in Raipur.
“Some days after we returned home Gudia had fever and she did not breastfeed well. We did not take very seriously because doctors also said that’s not unusual. However, many in the family had fever and other symptoms of covid-19 within days. We all went for test and were found positive,” said Ankit.
While Ankit and his father (who later died) were admitted in a private hospital in Bhubaneswar, his wife and sister were home because they had no major symptoms needing hospitalization. However, Gudia showed respiratory distress.
“While I was in hospital, the baby was taken to a paediatric specialist in our locality. He detected Covid pneumonia in her. On his advice, she was shifted to Bhubaneswar,” he said.
Dr Arijit Mohapatra, a neonatologist who treated the infant in Bhubaneswar, said the baby was in severe respiratory distress when she came here.
“After exhausting all other options, we put her on ventilator. We also gave her Remdesivir and all antibiotics possible for a newborn. She started responding well. It was nothing sort of a miracle given her tender age,” Mohapatra said.
Mohapatra said infants and children getting infected is nothing unusual now as they are exposed to virus from parents and close relatives. “However early intervention should be made to reduce complications. Fever of children should not be ignored. Most of the children are having mild symptoms and recovering well,” he said.
Jatindra Panda, another paediatric specialist in Bhubaneswar, said infections among children is still a miniscule percentage.
“However, given future projection of a possible third wave causing more infections among kids, the governments should consider allowing vaccination of lactating mothers, pregnant women and children in the days to come,” he said.