5-year-old daughter of Omicron patient fit for discharge, tests negative; older daughter positive

Doctors said they are not as concerned about the young girls having Omicron as much as their developing multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children

The five-year-old daughter of 46-year-old Omicron-infected government anaesthetist is fit to be discharged, as she had tested negative on RT-PCR, according to doctors treating her at Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital.

However, the older daughter, a 14-year-old, is still RT-PCR positive. Doctors said they are not as concerned about the young girls having Omicron (even as their genomic sequencing results are still awaited) as much as their developing multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) as that is common after Covid recovery in children.

Dr Chikkanarasappa Reddy, professor of Paediatrics, Bowring Hospital, said, "Both the girls are asymptomatic. We have refrained from taking blood samples as both are in good spirits, have a good appetite, and are playing well with each other and their parents."

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"But we don't know how this new virus behaves. MIS-C is seen in children who recover from Covid. We don't know what the body's reaction will be. From our past experience, children develop MIS-C three to four weeks after recovery. Not that all children will develop it. We usually counsel parents to watch out for the sudden onset of fever and body weakness," he added.

Asked if Omicron suspects and confirmed patients can be housed in the same ward while awaiting results, he said, "We cannot separate children from their parents. Also, they are contacts. Clinically, for all practical purposes, we treat it as Omicron only. We have kept all medicines ready but have not given them even paracetamol. They don't even have a fever. We keep checking during routine rounds."

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The doctor said when children are separated from their parents, there is a rise in anxiety levels.

"We have seen this in routine Covid cases. Hence, they are all in the same room. The parents have been informed about their daughters. They are yet to take a call on whether to send their child home or to wait till their mother can be discharged," he said.

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