Tamil Nadu health department worried as more children test COVID positive

The Tamil Nadu health department which is expecting the COVID-19 second wave to peak by the end of May is worried with more children in the age group of 0-12 testing positive for the virus.

Doctors are of the opinion that more newborns are also testing positive and the percentage of children getting infected due to COVID-19 is more during the second wave than in the first.

A study by the health department revealed that around 1,000 to 1,300 children are testing positive on a daily basis in Tamil Nadu. Dr S Srinivasan, Nodal Officer, Child Health, Tamil Nadu state said, "The number of children testing positive is on the rise. When parents test positive, children are also getting infected."

However the good news is that while children are getting affected, the disease is not becoming a high risk for the children except for a few cases. Dr Manonmani Arun, Pediatrician at Maduraisaid, "There is of course a rise in the number of children including newborn getting infected with the disease but the cases are not turning fatal and this is welcome. The immunity of the children might be the reason for the disease not progressing among them."

She added, "Children with co-morbidities like malignancies, chronic diseases and others having immunity problems have to be protected as these children once infected will have a higher risk of turning fatal and hence all efforts must be made to prevent this."

Dr Rajesh Nityananad, a neonatologist with a private hospital in Erode said, "A study by our team revealed that even during the first wave several newborns were tested positive but they were asymptomatic but now during the second wave newborns are with symptoms and one or two cases of newborns with multi- system inflammatory syndrome(MIS- C) which was generally seen in older children."

Doctors are of the opinion that pregnant women who develop symptoms like fever should tell the doctors on their medical condition as even mild infections can have implications for the baby.

Dr Lakshmi Suresh, Gynecologist, Chennai said, "We are testing all pregnant women before delivery for COVID-19 tests to ascertain whether the baby is at risk and we do recommend testing the baby in 48 hours after delivery." Neonatologists in unison said that parents should watch for multi-system inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) in newborns which are a re-appearance of fever, diarrhoea and irritability.