With the possibility of a third wave of COVID-19 later this year and the likelihood that at least 25% of children will be affected, state government is moving quickly to address the gaps in pediatric care in primary / secondary and tertiary health care facilities close.
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has a pediatric COVID task force led by Dr. B. Chandrasekhara Reddy, chairman of AP Medical and Infrastructure Development Corporation (APMIDC), formed with experienced pediatricians from government and private hospitals.
The prime minister said that pediatric facilities would be established in all primary health centers and announced the establishment of three pediatric specialist hospitals in Visakhapatnam, Guntur-Vijayawada and Tirupati, each costing 180 billion yen.
But the predictions are a little worrying. Chief pediatrician in Guntur and member of the AP Pediatric COVID-19 Task Force T. Chandrasekhara Reddy says approximately 12% of children under the age of 14 were affected during the first wave, which predicts that 25% of children would be affected during the third wave are a bit unsettling.
Children at risk
Since children between the ages of 5 and 14 still need to be vaccinated, the chance of infection is higher. While the predictions were based on data analysis models from the country, health experts predict that 18 lakh people are likely to be affected during the third wave, of which 25% (4.5 lakh) could be children.
However, as with adult COVID-19, about 90% of cases could be asymptomatic and about 10% (45,000) moderate to severe cases could require hospitalization. Of those 45,000 cases, less than 2% could require an intensive care unit (ICU) nationwide over a 60-day period. From next week we will also start training medical health workers, ”he says.
Doctors are also wary of the possibility of children becoming infected with Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome, which involves inflammation in different parts of the body. It is a serious disease associated with COVID-19 that requires the administration of immunoglobulins.
“The government has started to respond to our proposals to develop infrastructure, recruit doctors and nurses and, more importantly, start a vaccination campaign for mothers. It has also started to stock up on immunoglobulins, ”says Dr. Chandrasekhara Reddy.