Drugs for treating adult Covid patients not for children: Govt

New Delhi: Amid the speculations that the third wave of Covid-19 would largely affect children, the Union Health Ministry, in its fresh guidelines issued on Wednesday, suggested that the drugs such as ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, favipiravir and antibiotics like doxycycline and azithromycin prescribed for adult Covid-19 patients have not been recommended for treating children.

As per the guidelines on operationalisation of COVID Care Services for children and adolescents, once vaccines are approved for children, those with comorbid conditions having more severe manifestations of Covid-19 and poorer outcomes should be a priority group for immunisation.

The recommendations also include augmenting existing Covid care facilities to provide care to children with acute coronavirus infection. "Most of the drugs used in adults have not been tested on children for prevention or treatment of Covid infection among them. Therefore, these are not recommended in children," it said.

"A combined effort from the private and public sector is needed to handle any surge (in cases) in the future after the withdrawal of the lockdown, school reopening, or as a third wave over the next three to four months. The basic principles of equity and dignity of care should be followed," it said.

The guidelines further said that estimates for additional bed capacity for pediatric care may be calculated based on peak daily cases in different districts during the second wave of the Covid-19 infections.

"The health authorities should initiate capacity-building programmes for appropriate pediatric care. In standalone paediatric hospitals, separate arrangements, such as separate beds for paediatric Covid care need to be set up," it said.

"For children with Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome who test negative for acute Covid, care has to be provided by the existing pediatric facilities. These facilities also need augmentation especially HDU and ICU services," it said.

Noting that a majority of children have asymptomatic or mild illness and can be managed at home by parents, it said that treatment for symptomatic patients includes paracetamol for fever and monitoring conditions such as measuring respiratory rates, difficulty in respiration, oral intake, and oxygen saturation.