IDAI Remind The Dangers Of Omicron To Children

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Indonesian Pediatrician Association (IDAI) dr. Piprim Basarah Yanuarso, Sp.A(K) reminded parents to be aware of the dangers of the Omicron variant COVID-19 that stalks children because it can cause fatal health problems.

"There are several cases reported to pediatricians who received cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) which can cause heart failure and diabetes mellitus, as well as damage other organs," said Piprim, quoted by Antara, Wednesday, February 23.

Piprim said children have the potential to experience MIS-C some time after being exposed to COVID-19.

"So, be careful of the potential for long COVID-19 or MIS-C that can happen even when the swab is negative," said Piprim.

Meanwhile, the Head of Public Health of the DKI Jakarta Provincial Health Office, dr. Fify Mulyani, MARS, said that the common symptoms experienced by babies when contracting the Omicron variant of COVID-19 include difficulty breathing or a persistent cough accompanied by shortness of breath, decreased urination intensity, refusal to breastfeed, and high fever.

"Meanwhile, in older children or toddlers, the most frequently reported symptoms of COVID-19 infection with the Omicron variant are runny nose, headache, fever, and the most common is sore throat," added Fify.

As an effort to prevent COVID-19 in children, Director of Nutrition and Maternal and Child Health, Directorate General of Public Health, Ministry of Health Erna Mulati said, this could be done through vaccination.

Currently, the number of vaccinations administered to children aged 6-11 years has reached 65.6 percent for the first dose and 25.85 percent for the second dose. As for the age of 12-17 years, recorded 91.73 percent for the first dose and 72.7 percent for the second dose.

"Based on data on people infected with COVID-19 from January 21 to February 6, 2022, around 69 percent have not vaccinated. For this reason, it is necessary to have a vaccination acceleration strategy consisting of cooperation from various parties who have a high commitment in efforts to increase vaccination coverage, " said Erna.

It is known that based on the IDAI survey, currently there is an increase in cases of COVID-19 infection with the Omicron variant in children, especially in areas outside Java. In early January, there were 70 cases and it continued to increase to 350 times on February 14, 2022. This figure has already surpassed the peak of the second wave of COVID-19 in July 2021.