Govt hospitals in Telangana all set to tackle Covid among kids

Rise in cases among kids in South Africa puts spotlight on paediatric wings back here

Hyderabad: The rise in hospital admissions among children, during the ongoing new wave of Covid infections, driven by the Omicron variant in South Africa, has put the spotlight on preparedness to tackle a possible similar surge among children here also.

At present, according to the data from National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), South Africa, between November 28 and December 4, about 34.9 per cent of Covid infections comprised children between 10 years and 14 years. In fact, this age group formed the highest percentage that was testing positive for Covid in South Africa, NICD on Wednesday said.

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While it’s early to project a similar outbreak here, the State health authorities nevertheless for the past few months have been preparing for a situation where large number of children, who are yet to receive Covid vaccines, could test positive.

Since the end of the second wave, the State government here had launched a concerted effort to improve capacity and infrastructure in government hospitals to handle paediatric cases with Covid infections.

“When adults test Covid positive, they are given medicines, apart from oxygen support. However, there are no dedicated Covid related drugs for children and the mainstay of treatment is oxygen support. I urge parents not to panic in this situation and if there are symptoms, bring your children to us for treatment,” says Head, Paediatrics, Niloufer Hospital, Dr T Usha Rani.

Since June, the State government had spent nearly Rs 133.90 crore towards procurement of medical equipment, surgical and other consumables and general drugs that would be needed during treatment of children. Apart from that, nearly 6,000 paediatric beds have also been created in government hospitals and another 4,000 beds in the private sector.

“In the last few months, the State government has created medical infrastructure in Niloufer and other paediatric facilities across Telangana. In fact, in the next few months, another 800 to 1,000 beds will be added at Niloufer Hospital for children,” says senior paediatrician, Niloufer Hospital, Dr Narahari Bappanapally.

At Gandhi Hospital, the paediatric wing has already completed arrangements for providing treatment to children. “We have created specialised ICU facilities for children with severe Covid infections, apart from exclusive 300 paediatric beds. However, people must realise that infections are preventable if people take precautions and get vaccinated,” says Superintendent, Gandhi Hospital, Dr M Raja Rao.

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