Only 291 kids infected in second wave, no deaths
Only 291 of the 35,609 positive cases (0.8%) detected in Gautam Budh Nagar between April 1 and May 24 were children, according to data from the district health department.
The district chief medical officer (CMO), Dr Deepak Ohri, said that there had been no deaths under this category. “Of the infected, 233 have already recovered under home isolation, and only 58 are active cases -- 18 in Covid-dedicated facilities and the rest still under home isolation,” he said.
The data confirms what experts have been saying all along, that children are more likely to recover and more likely to contract a mild form of the disease, if infected.
Dr DK Gupta, director of the Super Specialty Paediatric Hospital and Post Graduate Teaching Institute (SSPHPGTI) – the only children’s hospital in the district at the moment – said that the pattern of Covid-19 infection has remained same in both the first wave last year and the ongoing second wave.
“There have been no deaths of children so far. During the first wave, out of those 16 critically ill patients – who had multiple co-morbidities like kidney failure, cancer and cardiac problems – we couldn’t save the lives of three,” he said.
On Monday, All India Institute
of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, director Dr Randeep Guleria said they had no evidence that children would be more affected in the event of a third wave.
“I agree with Dr Guleria’s opinion. These (that children
will be more affected) are assumptions, which is far away from the reality. Medical sciences do not rely on assumptions as it causes panic. I firmly believe that the trend of Covid-19 impact will remain the same in the third wave and people need not fear,” Gupta said.
Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) director Dr Rakesh Gupta, who once headed the department of paediatrics in the Armed Force Medical College (AFMC), Pune, said that since a large number of adults are likely to have taken their vaccination by the time of a possible third wave, the share of infections in minors will likely be more. “But if the scientific valuation is any indication, the infection is not going to be as fatal as in adults,” he said.
That children will be more affected during a possible third wave are assumptions. I believe trend will remain the same. DR D K GUPTA, Child PGI