A group of doctors has written to the state health department with an appeal to set up more paediatric Covid beds as more children are testing positive for the disease in the second wave of infection compared with the first.
The letter from Protect the Warriors, an association of doctors, has also urged the department to publish a paediatric Covid management protocol, which will include an advisory on managing a child at home when adults in the family test positive.
The letter has also stressed the need to have paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) beds at both government and private hospitals.
Symptoms in child patients have mostly been mild or moderate, doctors said, advising parents not to panic.
“It is true that we are witnessing more children testing positive for Covid-19 now than what we did last year. However, most of the children have mild or moderate symptoms. That does not mean that a child will not have severe symptoms. There should not be a bed crisis if a child develops severe symptoms of Covid,” said Apurba Ghosh, the director of the Institute of Child Health.
Ghosh is not among the signatories of the letter.
Doctors who signed the letter said setting up paediatric Covid beds, especially ICU beds, was necessary as it was not possible to treat a child in an intensive care unit for adults.
“Ventilators meant for children are different from that for adults. The doses of medicines for children are also different from those for adults,” said Rohit Kapoor, a pediatrician with the Institute of Child Health and one of the signatories of the letter.
The Calcutta Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) has a dedicated paediatric and neonatal Covid ward. The hospital admitted 25 children suffering from Covid over the past 10 days. On Tuesday, 10 children were admitted in the paediatric Covid ward.
“The number of children testing positive for Covid-19 is about three times more than what we witnessed last time. The symptoms are mostly fever, cough and cold, and mild shortness of breath,” said Mihir Sarkar, an associate professor of paediatrics at CMCH.
The hospital had 90 beds for paediatric Covid patients but the number was reduced as cases started to decline late last year. Of the 25 Covid beds at present, eight are paediatric intensive care beds. Sarkar said the other beds were occupied by children suffering from other ailments and it may not be immediately possible to convert them into Covid beds.
The signatories have also requested that the health department publish a set of guidelines on how parents who have tested positive for Covid deal with children.
“Often both parents test positive for Covid and they are clueless about how to deal with children at home. We advise against sending the children to grandparents because they may get infected through the young ones,” Kapoor said.
The letter has also requested the department to ensure uninterrupted supply of IVIg, a drug administered to children who develop inflammation in the coronary artery after recovering from Covid-19.
Bed appeal
The health department on Tuesday asked private hospitals to increase Covid beds, including critical care beds. An official of Belle Vue Clinic said they had 150 Covid beds till Tuesday morning and added 17 critical care beds by the evening. An official of AMRI Hospitals said their Mukundapur unit added nine Covid beds on Tuesday and the Dhakuria unit 22 beds on Monday.
The department also assured the hospitals that there would be no shortage of remdesivir, a drug used to treat Covid.
