Webinar on “Preparedness for the third wave of Covid-19 and prioritisation of children” was organized under DST NU-TEC platform and Dept of Paediatrics, KSHEMA on June 25, 2021. Prof Dr Satheesh Kumar Bhandary, Vice-Chancellor, Nitte (DU) in his opening remarks stated that vaccination drive and guidelines from the government to manage the pandemic are being updated and parallelly preparing ourselves for the Covid-19 third wave is of utmost importance to prevent the morbidity and mortality. Speakers of the webinar were Dr Swathi Sunil Rao, Associate Professor, Dept of Paediatrics, KSHEMA Mangalore, Dr Rohit Baradwaj consultant paediatrician Chennai and Dr Santhosh Soans, Past National President, Indian Academy of Paediatrics, and HOD of Pediatrics, A.J. Medical College, Mangalore. Dr Swathi Sunil Rao highlighted that as per the survey on first and second wave of Covid-19, children forms a small group (3-4%) of the total Covid-19 cases among which 60-70% cases are asymptomatic which were comparable with the global situation. The reason for this could be due to decreased viral copies they are exposed to, different expression of ACE2 receptor than the adults. She further explained the pathogenesis of the disease and past case reports with associated medical conditions. Dr Rohit Baradwaj spoke on office practice and vaccine strategies. His lecture covered several of the core topics like IAP (Indian Academy of Pediatrics) Covid 19 management plan, when to test children for Covid-19, outputs from systematic reviews about Covid-19 in children. He stressed that the children need to be tested to lessen the spread and it is important to bring the child to medical attention if there are any suspicion. He indicated that asthmatic children may not be prone to Covid-19 infection because of the various reasons like steroid treatment, lower IFN production and inverse relation of the allergic sensitization with ACE2 receptor. He elaborated on factors that might protect the children from infection and various vaccines that are underway covering various age groups. Dr Santhosh Soans, spoke about herd immunity in connection with speculation of different waves of Covid-19. He emphasised that continuing Covid reinforcing behaviour, isolating the children from infected individuals, vaccination, uplifting the resources, recruitment and training of health care workers are the main strategies to tackle the third wave. The webinar was coordinated by Prof. Dr. Indrani Karunasagar, Director, DST NU-TEC and moderated by Dr Rathika Shenoy, HOD Paediatrics, KSHEMA
Video Link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7cdZz33Y9I
Event Date : 2021-06-25
Venue : DST NU-TEC
Last updated 2021-07-13 10:35:22