Kerala 3-year-old youngest to test positive in India

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A threeyear-old child who returned with his parents from Italy via Dubai tested positive for novel coronavirus disease (Covid -19) on Monday to become the youngest person to get infected in the country. He has mild fever and is responding to symptomatic treatment.

Ernakulam district collector, S Suhas, said the child was detected with mild fever during thermal screening at the Cochin International Airport on March 7 and immediately admitted to the isolation ward of the Ernakulam Medical College Hospital with his parents. The sample of the child tested positive at the virology laboratory in Alappuzha. On testing again, the National Institute of Virology, Pune, confirmed it. The child’s father belongs to Kannaur in Kerala, but works in Italy.

“The child’s condition is stable. He is responding well to the symptomatic treatment. The test results of his parents will be made available by Monday evening. As of now, neither showed any symptoms,” the collector said, adding an experts’ team is monitoring the child’s health. The people who interacted with them at the airport have been identified and all passengers who travelled on the same flight were asked to report for testing, he said.

A senior doctor of the hospital said there is limited information on children getting infected. “In China the youngest to get infected was an infant who was a few days old. Children have better immunity and they recoup very fast. But it all depends on the immunity and infection levels of the particular child,” he said.

“Inflammatory response in children is very low when compared to the aged. Once the virus contracts, it sets up inflammation that damages organs and turns fatal. This possibility is relatively less in children. But it doesn’t mean that children are safe from infection,” said A S Anoop Kumar, head of the critical care

› unit at Baby Memorial Hospital in Kozhikode.

Children have better immunity and they recoup very fast. But it all depends on infection levels of the particular child

Senior doctor