A 15-year-old girl has become the first minor to die with Covid-19 in the city since September, although the BBMP has said the finding of the infection in her case
is “incidental”.
The death, which happened earlier this week, is the first casualty of a minor reported since September 9 when a three-year-old girl in Bengaluru with symptoms of Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) and no other comorbid conditions perished.
Similar to the earlier case, the teenager was also reported to have had ILI symptoms such as fever, but no known comorbidities, as per the state’s official Covid-19 bulletin released on Wednesday.
However, Dr K V Thrilok Chandra, Special Commissioner (Health), Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), said the child had a health issue in the form of a neurological condition. “She was brought to a private hospital in the city without symptoms on January 3, where she collapsed. This resulted in medical staff intubating her. Shortly before she was taken into the ICU, she was subjected to a rapid antigen test (RAT) and was found to be positive,” Dr Chandra added.
The child is said to have died shortly after. The BBMP has classified the death as “incidental” and not directly related to Covid-19.
The BBMP added that it was unlikely that the child’s samples will be sent for genomic sequencing owing to the classification of the death.
A total of 93 child deaths (0-17) have been recorded in the state since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
While some 72 of these fatalities have no recorded comorbidities, experts believe a weakened immune system prompted by other health problems led to the deaths.
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Published 05 January 2022, 18:41 IST