Hospitalisation among kids lower than elders, shows BBMP data – ET HealthWorld

BBMP data for the last 10 days accessed by TOI shows that those in the age group of 0-18 accounted for 129 or 6% of 2,190 people who were admitted to hospitals after contracting Covid-19.

People aged above 60 accounted for 1,038 or nearly half of hospitalisations during the last 10 days. While 832 elders got admitted to private hospitals, 206 underwent treatment in government ones.

BBMP health officials claim children have better immunity, thus regardless of community spread, most remained unaffected, while some who contracted the virus recovered faster.

During contact tracing, officials found out that children were turning positive for three reasons — social gatherings, travel and family spread.

“Many families who tested positive are mildly symptomatic and prefer home isolation. In such cases, children also turn positive. But since their immunity is good, the chances of hospitalisation are very less,” said Dr Bhaskar Rajakumar, nodal officer, BBMP war room.

“Children show symptoms of cold first, followed by itchy throat and fever. While fever reduces in a day, the cold takes a minimum of 4-5 days to come down,” he added.

“Immunity among children in the age group of 6-14 is still developing. Though they get infected, they heal faster. Due to lack of vaccination, the chances of infections among children are rising, but there is nothing much to worry,” said Dr Ravishankar Marpalli, paediatrician, Sparsh Rajarajeshwari.

Dr AS Balasundar, chief health officer (BBMP), said senior citizens get admitted due to comorbidities. “Liver disease, hypertension and diabetes among others instill a sense of panic among elders,” he said.

On hospitalisation among children, he said: “It is mostly panic among parents that leads to children’s admission. Following Covid-appropriate behaviour is the only way to avoid testing positive.”