Delhi's Ganga Ram Hospital gets dedicated ward for children facing post-Covid complications

By Joymala Bagchi
New Delhi, [India], June 1 : Owing to the rising of post-Covid complications in children, Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital has set up a dedicated ward for the pediatrics suffering from multi-organ inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C).
Confirming the decision, Dr Dhiren Gupta, Covid Specialist, and Paediatric Pulmonoligist and Intensivist, Senior consultant at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said that almost 70 per cent of these MIS-C patients require ICU bed.
"Last year, we also had MIS-C cases but this time the cases are much higher. At Ganga Ram, we have seen as many as 10 cases in 24 hours," he said.
"When the numbers of these patients increased, we thought to get prepare. One of our acute Covid wards that had a very less number of patients (with a decrease in cases) was transformed into an MIS-C ward. Almost 70 per cent of these patients require ICU and presently we have kept a special place in ICU as well as in wards. With increased MIS-C cases, this type of move will always help," he said.
"Many of the hospitals are actually planning to give separate attention to MIS-C patients," he added.
Cases of MIS-C have been seen in children during the recovery phase or after two to four weeks of acute Covid.
"If 100 adults infected with COVID-19 require hospitalisation, only 25 of them need ICU whereas in children out of 100, 70 to 80 require ICU. Thus, they require much more resources than an adult patient. As not all systems are geared up to treat small babies, it is better to remain prepared," Dr Gupta said.
Chair of the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC) and Member (Health) in NITI Aayog, Dr Vinod K Paul had earlier said, "Covid 19 in children has been found in 2 ways. At first, they have reported pneumonia-like symptoms. In second, some cases of a multi inflammatory syndrome found among children who recently recovered from covid19,
The sudden spurt in MIS-C has been observed typically in Covid recovered patients aged between 4 to 18 years, however, there are rare cases of MISC affecting six months old too.
Symptoms of MIS-C include fever for three to five days, severe abdominal pain, sudden drop in blood pressure, loose motion.