Maharashtra plans for third wave with 3-fold addition to paediatric beds

As part of its preparedness for the projected third wave, the state plans to increase the number of paediatric Covid beds to nearly 2,300 from the existing around 600.

It is also in keeping with the advice of the paediatric task force to create graded healthcare facilities for management of moderate and severe Covid cases in children on the lines of dedicated Covid health centres and dedicated Covid hospitals created for adults last year.

In Mumbai, BMC plans to create 500 beds for kids that will be gradually augmented.


Uddhav calls for judicious use of meds in children
A week after conducting an online session with family physicians, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday interacted with around 6,300 paediatricians and urged them to judiciously use medicines while treating children. He added there were no guidelines on vaccination for children.

Members of the paediatric taskforce recommended that designated paediatric Covid care hospitals (PCCH) and paediatric high dependency units (HDU) must be created at district and sub-centre levels, while the existing paediatric ICUs should be augmented with manpower and beds. Up to 95% children have been found to suffer from asymptomatic or mild Covid, 5% from moderate and only 1-2% have severe Covid.

Dr T P Lahane, head of medical education department, said plans have been drawn up to increase beds by nearly three-fold by August-September. Every medical college that sees a minimum of 150 admissions has been asked to create 50-bed paediatric Covid wards, while those who have a higher inflow will create 100-bed wards. “NICU and PICU beds that are usually 10-20 will be doubled in the bigger medical colleges across Maharashtra,” he said, adding of the 2,250 beds they intend to increase, around 1,000 will be PICUs and NICUs. Beds in Sick Newborn Care Units will be increased from 8-10 to 20 in each of the district civil hospitals. “The augmentation will need 300 paediatricians at the least and another 700 staffers that we plan to recruit,” Dr Lahane said.

Besides the creation of PCCH, HDU and PICUs beds, doctors at every level have to be trained to know when to refer a child to a higher facility, said Dr Suhas Prabhu, head of the paediatric taskforce. “A doctor in a fever clinic is the first point of contact. He has to recognise that a child needs referral, besides understanding the social and practical circumstances where a child can be home quarantined or sent to an isolation facility,” he said.

In Maharashtra, 30% of the population is in the paediatric category. “There is nothing to say the third wave will hit children badly, but since they remain unvaccinated, preparations have to be made,” said Dr Vijay Yewale, another paediatric taskforce member.

The doctors said reinfections are rare in children, while no child has been known to suffer from mucormycosis.