Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Apr 17: Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) today said that the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is now affecting the children which was not the case earlier and was a relief for the parents as well as doctors.
In a statement issued here, DAK said until recently, the children were not seriously implicated by covid-19 and this was the biggest psychological relief for parents and doctors.
“There were only a few documented cases worldwide, and most cases were asymptomatic. However, the second wave of Covid-19 has come with different aggression, high rate of transmission, changed spectrum of illness and virus is impacting kids significantly,” DAK said in a statement.
President Doctors Association Kashmir, Dr Suhail Naik, as per the statement said that due to continuous viral replication, the virus develops different changes in its genetic code called mutations, and subsequent alterations in its antigenic structure and virulence factors.
“These different mutations have led to different variants of the virus with increased capability to infect people across all age groups. …it seems kids are right now also prone to the dangers of COVID-19 since the virus has gotten stronger and ‘smarter’ in its attack, Dr Naik added.
General Secretary DAK, Dr Owais H Dar further added that newer COVID-19 strains, such as the double mutant strain (called as Desi-Variant) identified in India is for the same reason, also increasing the number of symptomatic cases in children below the age of 16.
“The second wave of coronavirus is causing a surge in cases. Most particularly, the B.1.1.7 and India’s B.1.617 variant are said to be quite scary for the kids too- who have been largely spared during the pandemic previously,” he said.
DAK has appealed to people to go for vaccination as soon as possible, and adopt Covid Appropriate Behaviour (CAB) religiously including wearing face masks, Hand hygiene and avoiding Public gatherings.
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