Maharashtra: COVID-19 paediatric task force guide paediatricians ahead of third wave

On Sunday, in the second phase of the initiative, 6,300 paediatricians in Maharashtra were given proper guidance on medical treatment by the state government's paediatricians task force. There was also a discussion on paying attention to the mental and emotional health associated with covid and covid in children. "Don't be ignorant about the infection in children. See a doctor and get treated immediately if they are experiencing COVID-19 like symptoms. We will defeat this virus together," Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said.

Suhas Prabhu, head of the COVID-19 paediatric task force, said in a majority of cases, the only symptom may be fever with complete recovery being made in a week''s time. "The other possibility was COVID pneumonia and infection from COVID positive mothers after the third trimester. Ninety per cent cases are likely to be asymptomatic, 5 percent moderate and 1-2 percent pneumonia," Prabhu said, adding that pediatric COVID care hospitals, pediatric ICUs and high dependency units were being set up in the state in view of a possible third wave. He said home care would be done through telecommunication in fever clinics. Vijay Yevale, another task force member, said parents should take their children to a doctor as soon as the latter have fever.
We have to be alert to protect children from the possible third wave. The first wave hit senior citizens, the second one targeted youth and now children are under threat," he said. The CM said "unpleasant decisions" like lockdown had to be taken to contain the outbreak and asked people to get treated immediately if they are experiencing COVID-19 like symptoms. 

The second wave saw a shortage of oxygen and other things but we have now taken concrete steps to become self-sufficient in oxygen. Stating that we are also increasing the facilities for the future, the Chief Minister said that in case of immunization also, we are ready to get 12 crore vaccines for the age group of 18 to 44 but the only problem is that vaccines are not available. We are constantly pursuing and I am sure, the supply of vaccines will start smoothly after June and we can start vaccinating all the citizens of Maharashtra expeditiously.

It is noteworthy that this program was watched by about 52,000 doctors and thousands of general public from various organizations besides paediatricians. The state government has set up a task force of paediatricians headed by Dr. Suhas Prabhu and Dr. Vijay Yeole, Dr. Parmanand Andankar is the member. These experts provided guidance on covid infections in young children as well as detailed information on medical treatment. During this time, the task force answered questions posed by several paediatricians. Dr. Sanjay Oak, Dr. Shashank Joshi and Dr. Tatyarao Lahane of the main task force also gave suggestions.