Covid in kids surges in US, but down 95% since April in Maharashtra

MUMBAI: Fears that with more adults getting vaccinated, a higher proportion of children could be susceptible to Covid-19 have so far proved unfounded in the state.

“We haven’t seen any such trend. The proportion of young children getting affected vis-a-vis the overall population has remained consistent between 3-4%,” said state surveillance officer Dr Pradeep Awate.
In absolute numbers, paediatric cases have dropped by 95%, from 50,756 in April — the peak of the second wave — to 2,608 in September so far.
The state public health department has flagged off the rise in paediatric cases across the world in its weekly update, saying a record 2.5 lakh paediatric cases were found in the US in the last week. Paediatric cases have proportionately increased in countries such as Japan and Singapore as well.
Experts here are keeping an eye but are not overly perturbed. “The rise in other countries could be due to the Delta variant, but we in India have already been through the second wave caused by it. Many Indians, including children, should have antibodies to the Delta variant as a result,” said Dr Vijay Yewale, a member of the state government’s paediatric Covid task force.
Of the 65.5 lakh Covid cases in the state, 2.1 lakh (3.2%) have been reported in children between 0 to 10 years and 4.9 lakh (7.4%) in those between 11-20 years (see box). This April, when Maharashtra reported a staggering 17.7lakh cases at its peak, the proportion of younger children affected was 2.9%. In absolute numbers, nearly 51,000 children below 10 had tested positive, the highest in a month.
Dr Bela Verma, also a member of the paediatric task force, said the number of hospitalisations has been dropping over the past two months but it is not yet nil. “We do have one or two children admitted but there are no serious cases or deaths.” Verma, also a professor at the JJ Hospital, however, said children who are immunocompromised should get vaccinated even if the current transmission rates are low.
A priority for all should be to open schools now. “For that to happen, adults must get vaccinated at the earliest,” Verma said. The task force has recommended that all staff should be vaccinated before schools can start, and while the state had announced special vaccination drives for teachers, no such initiative has started so far.
Awate said there have been discussions around opening of schools post-Diwali. “But nothing has been finalised. We will see how the disease curve fares,” he said.