Set up ICUs for children, vaccinate young parents on priority, paediatricians tell Hemant

Ranchi: A few of the country’s top paediatricians urged chief minister Hemant Soren and his senior bureaucrats to vaccinate the state's young parents on priority, train doctors and paramedics on the treatment of Covid-infected children and set up ICU wards for children and minors below 18 years of age ahead of the third wave which could hit the country soon.
In Jharkhand, there are 1.93 crore children aged under 18 years. On the contrary, there are only 125 paediatricians in the state.
Concerned with reports that the third wave will affect the children most as they are yet to be vaccinated, the state government reached out to the WHO's India representative Dr Rodrico H Orfin, AIIMS New Delhi paediatrics department head Dr Ashok Deorari, prominent paediatric liver specialist Dr Neelam Mohan and NIHMS Bengaluru physician Dr Pradeep Banandur virtually on Sunday afternoon to seek their suggestions on the state's preparation for the third wave.
During the meeting, the experts pointed out that Jharkhand has a high proportion of anaemic children (43%) and such children are likely to develop problems related to blood oxygen levels fast if they are infected. Hence, the government must set up ICUs equipped with high-flow nasal cannulas, CPAP machines and ventilators in these units apart from ensuring that they are linked to the piped oxygen supply.
Dr Deorari cited various medical research to highlight that though only 12% of the total infected persons in the country were below 18 years, their mortality rate was minuscule. “Mostly, the children who died of Covid-19 were having comorbid conditions,” he said. Dr Deorari, however, underscored the need to bolster better care for children in home isolation and their proper nourishment. “Very few Covid-19 infected children will need hospitalisation as most of them are likely to be asymptomatic or with mild symptoms,” he predicted.
Dr Mohan predicted that chances are high that as many as 1.9 lakh-3.8 lakh children can contract the viral infection in the state and about 3,800 will have severe infections. The Jharkhand government, however, estimates that close to 9,000 children can be severely affected by the virus.
“Awareness needs to be created on Covid-19 symptoms among the children and the most common symptoms among kids above eight years are fever, cough, pneumonia, diarrhoea, dehydration, loss of appetite, headache and loss of smell. Among infants, if they refused to breastfeeding, the parents must not ignore it,” Dr Mohan said. She further said Covid-infected children also report multi-inflammatory syndrome and suggested that the ICUs should have facilities to accommodate parents of the infected children.
Dr Banandur advocated the mobilisation of NCC cadets to create awareness among children and setting up mental health assistance programs at districts and school levels.