‘Increase in severe infections from common viruses in kids’
Pune: The impact of two years of the COVID lockdown, leading to the disruption of routine immunisation, is still evident among children and infants. Today, common viruses and vaccine-preventable infections land kids in neonatal intensive care units.
Viral diseases like rubella, mumps, measles and the common cold are leading to pneumonia and causing serious symptoms in kids, said paediatricians at the Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP) Intensive Care Chapter national conference.
Over 1,000 paediatricians participated in the three-day conference in Pune, wherein doctors focused on the post-pandemic trend of infections and better management of kids admitted in the NICU.
Doctors also said disruption in routine immunisation has caused dormant viruses to rise again.
Dr Amit Kaul, HoD of paediatrics, Surya Hospital, said, “We are witnessing a post-pandemic rise in respiratory infections and pneumonia cases caused by common viruses, like adenovirus, which causes common cold. This could be because of the drop in immunity during the lockdown. There has also been a huge rise in measles, rubella and mumps cases due to disruption in routine immunisation.”
Dr Sachin Shah, president of the Pune Paediatric Intensive Care Chapter, said, “Parents missed routine immunisation and now, kids are ending up with severe infections. The government should also add mumps and pneumococcal immunisations to the routine.”
Doctors also highlighted rising incidents of non-communicable disease among children. Dr Shilpa Yadav, president of the IAP Pune Chapter, said, “Obesity and diabetes are the major upcoming challenges for children. These comorbidities make diagnosis difficult as symptoms are not specific. We are training teachers to instruct children on how to read content on food packets and see how much sodium, sugar and other artificial preservatives it contains. This may help to control eating of excessive junk food.”
Source – ETHealth World
