Kashi paediatricians suggest how to deal with possible 3rd wave

ASHOK KUMAR, A RENOWNED BHU PAEDIATRICIAN, SAID THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT A THIRD WAVE MAY NOT COME

VARANASI: Children above 12 years should be vaccinated, Vitamin D tablets should be given to them, and medical facilities should be earmarked and accordingly equipped to treat children.

Those were some of the suggestions that senior city paediatricians gave for a possible third wave of Covid-19 during a virtual meeting with MLAs of Varanasi on Wednesday. Fears have been expressed in some quarters that a possible third wave of infections is likely to target children. Minister Neelkanth Tiwari, who represents Varanasi South assembly seat and chaired the virtual meeting, said that the second wave came all of sudden. “I pray to God that the third wave does not arrive. But if it does, what measures can be taken to deal with it and to keep Varanasi safe”?

Ashok Kumar, a renowned BHU paediatrician, said that there is such a possibility that a third wave may not come. “But we should be prepared for every situation. First of all, we should identify the district hospitals and medical colleges for children. At the same time, complete arrangement of resources should also be made because the ventilator and pulse oximeter of children are different,” he said. Paediatrician Pradeep Jindal suggested that private hospitals will have to be identified for the treatment of children and that arrangement of equipment and resources need to be made for these hospitals.

KK Ojha and Rajesh Khanna suggested that children above 12 years should be vaccinated with permission from the government. The speed of the spread of virus can be stopped only by vaccination.

Alok C Bhardwaj suggested that private and state hospitals should work together and that the work of vaccination should be expedited and a group of paediatricians should be formed to formulate a strategy to deal with a possible third wave.

Brijesh Kumar said that there is no doubt that it is difficult to keep small children away. For this, parents will have to be aware. Divyang Pathak said that consulting a doctor about mild symptoms will be beneficial and a complete arrangement of all equipment, medicines will have to be made. BJP MLC Laxman Acharya, deputy leader of the legislative council, asked doctors if there is a medicine which could be given to children to protect them prior to the outbreak of a possible third wave.

The doctors said that children are given a dose of medicine according to their weight. There is no specific medicine for it. But Vitamin D tablets can be given to children under expert advice which will definitely be beneficial. Children above 1 year age should be given Vitamin D sachet 60,000 units per week for four weeks, Alok Bhardwaj clarified. He said after four weeks, it should be stopped.

Kashi region BJP media incharge Navratan Rathi said that MLC Ashok Dhawan, MLAs including Dr Awadhesh Singh, Surendra Narayan Singh, MLA Saurabh Srivastava, and Minister of State Independent Charge Ravindra Jaiswal also expressed their opinion in the meeting.