
There has been a sudden onset of acute febrile illness with positive RT-PCR for SARS-CoV2 among infants
New Delhi: The surging cases of Covid-19 infection have also started affecting infants and children, with many of them reporting high fever, cough, and even itchy eyes and conjunctivitis, said doctors here on Monday.
However, this time, it is showing newer symptoms like itchy eyes that were not seen during previous Covid waves.
"Most children were presented with moderate fever, cold and mild cough with features of bronchitis. The one differentiating feature is conjunctivitis, not seen in previous waves, especially here," he added.
Vashishtha, who is also a consultant pediatrician at the Mangla Hospital and Research Centre in Bijnor, UP, said that the Covid infection in children, which has surfaced once again after a gap of six months, is not "MIS-C, which has a rash and other feature".
Chugh added that children, mainly of "school-going age, are increasingly being affected with fever and throat pain since the last two weeks". He said that in most cases they are acquiring the infection from infected family members.
They suggested using masks, maintaining social distance, and washing hands regularly.
Besides, Covid, doctors report that the Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is also rising among kids. RSV is a highly contagious virus that causes respiratory infections, especially in young children.
RSV is highly contagious and spreads through contact with droplets from the nose or throat of an infected person, or by touching surfaces contaminated with the virus. Symptoms include fever, cough, running or stuffy nose, breathing problems, sore throat, earache, and headache.
"Prevention is the key to dealing with this. Prevention includes frequent hand washing, avoiding contact with people who have respiratory infections, covering your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, keeping infants and young children away from crowds and people with respiratory infections, and vaccination for those at high risk," Dr. Roli Munshi, Consultant - Pediatrics at Dharamshila Narayana Superspeciality Hospital Delhi, told IANS.
“It is important to contact your pediatrician for proper evaluation and treatment if your child is experiencing symptoms of a respiratory infection," Munshi said.
"Treatment is supportive care, such as rest, fluids, fever-reducing medications, over-the-counter cold and cough medications, humidifiers or saline nasal drops, and oxygen therapy or mechanical ventilation for severe cases," he added.
Disclaimer: This story has been published from a newswire service and nothing except the headline has been changed by Times Now.