Bengaluru: Around 505 children in Bengaluru contracted Covid in the first 10 days of August, but only three have been hospitalised, data with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) shows.
The remaining 502 were either asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic.
These paediatric cases — of those being infected in the 0-19 year age group — constitute between 12-14 per cent of Bengaluru’s daily Covid count.
According to Randeep D., Special BBMP Commissioner (Health), the figure is not a cause for concern since the ratio of paediatric cases to normal cases has been constant for the last two months.
According to BBMP’s data, between 1 August and 10 August, the city had recorded 505 paediatric cases and 3,253 other cases.
In the 10-day period preceding it, which is between 22 July and 31 July, the city recorded 510 paediatric Covid cases, and 3,603 other cases.
“There is no cause for concern… In terms of percentage infection, it is only about 12-14 per cent, and that ratio has remained constant,” Randeep said. “We have checked the stats for 0-19 years. If you look at the 0-12 (age group), that is even less.”
What paediatricians say
ThePrint spoke to paediatricians in the city who, however, noted a steady increase in the number of cases.
“From zero cases in the month of July, we are now seeing 2-3 cases trickling in a day,” said Dr Srikanta J.T., paediatric pulmonologist at Aster CMI Hospital.
The doctor, who is also a member of the committee advising the state government on preparations for a likely third wave, attributed the rise in cases to the easing of the lockdown.
“Basically, what I have seen is, we’ve had adults having the infection transmitting it to their kids,” he added. “And in the past week, we’ve seen that 50 per cent of cases are those among adolescents and 50 per cent are those between 6 to 12 years.”
Dr Jagadish Chinnappa, paediatric cluster head at Manipal Hospital, similarly noted the rise in cases among children and said that people across ages are now getting affected.
“Plenty of children are getting Covid. Covid is now a family infection… Cases wherein the mother and father have been infected are more common,” he said.
The rise comes even as the state government has decided to reopen schools for classes 9-12.
According to Srikanta, the committee of advisors looking at preparations for the third wave had recommended reopening pre-schools as opposed to high schools.
“(This is) because high schoolers, as well as those in the first and second PUC (pre-university colleges), are more likely to have severe illnesses since AC2 receptors are lesser in preschoolers,” he said.
“Starting 9-12 classes is a risk that everyone, from parents to teachers to students to the government, is taking. If there is a rise, we might run out of ICU beds.”
Chinnappa, however, said that classes will have to be opened. “The disease is extremely mild and we have to take a chance,” he said.
“The best thing to do is to immunise everyone around the child, including the family, teachers and others in schools so the chances of transmission of the disease come down effectively.”
(Edited by Arun Prashanth)
Also read: ‘No more than 6 days to recover’ — Study in Lancet finds ‘long Covid’ rare in children