India's Paediatric Association has expressed doubts about the third wave affecting children (File)
Around 1.4 lakh children were infected with Covid in Karnataka in the period between March-end and mid-May. Around 40,000 of the affected children were below the age of 10 years. The rest were between the ages of 10 years and 19 years.
The figures from March 29 to May 18 have raised concern in the state -- especially in the backdrop of predictions from a section of medical experts that the third wave of Covid will target children.
The government has said it is making all the necessary preparations in case of such an eventuality.
Dr Ashwath Narayan, the state minister in charge of Covid, said: "We are trying to increase facilities at a very fast pace so there is no shortage of anything required for the care and cure of children".
Pediatrician Dr Sai Shankar told the media that the concern about children being targeted has been raised as the first and the second waves of the disease affected the elderly and the adults.
"The new varieties of Covid are looking for a new host and the children are getting infected," he added.
Dr Mujahid Hussain, paediatrician in Bengaluru, however, said it was all about numbers.
"See, the infection has been rampant over the last few weeks. So along with the number of affected people, the number of children contracting the disease is also increasing. Suppose there are one per cent children in 100 cases, obviously the number will grow in the same proportion when 10,000 people have been affected."
Dr Hussain, however, pointed out that not all the children infected need to be hospitalised. Most children do not show signs of infection and cure themselves due to their good immunity.
The government's concern has increased due to the need to push up vaccination – seen as a definite means of controlling the spread of the virus and saving lives. It has also been pointed at by experts as a key method to keep away a third wave.
The country's Paediatric Association, however, has expressed doubts about the third wave affecting children.
At the health ministry's press conference this evening, Dr Randeep Guleria, the chief of Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences and a key member of the Centre's Covid Task Force, said, "It has been said that children will be infected the most in the third wave but Pediatrics Association has said that this is not based on facts. It might not impact children so people should not be afraid":
The data from both first and second waves of Covid have been similar, he said, showing children remain protected from the virus. Even if they get the infection, it is mild, he said.
The hypothesis, he said, is that the ace receptors – a particular variety of protein through which the virus enters the body – are far fewer in children's bodies than in adults'.
"The people who have floated this theory (of children being infected) say they have not been infected in the first two waves and that is why they might be impacted more in next wave. But so far, there is no evidence that such a severe infection might happen in the future," Dr Guleria said.