COVID-19 Trends In Children Change, New Parents Are Asked Not To Panic

Griffith University Australia epidemiologist Dicky Budiman. (photo; doc. between)

JAKARTA - The trend of COVID-19 cases in children has begun to change since the emergence of a new variant of Omicron in the world. This was stated by Epidemiologist Griffith University Australia, Dicky Budiman.

“When the Delta variant was not seen, the impact was enormous. Although there are, but still not very significant. But since Omicron, this is the case or the trend has changed," he said in a voice message received by ANTARA in Jakarta, Saturday, February 12.

He explained that the trend of COVID-19 cases was now starting to shift to affect children under five years old (toddlers). This shift in trend has been evident since infection cases and hospitalizations increased two to four times globally compared to during Delta.

In hospital care, almost 20 percent of the total treated are infants or children under the age of one year.

According to him, the shift can have two very serious impacts in the family. One of them is Omicron's fast transmission, causing a child to have a 70 percent chance of getting upper respiratory tract infections.

"He has upper respiratory tract infections 70 times more easily or more often than Delta, especially for children three years and under or maybe even five years and under," he said.

He added that the infection will make the child's nose discharge like snot. Where the fluid can later make the child experience a blockage of the respiratory tract.

Meanwhile, infection can also affect the psychology of parents, especially for young parents or those who have just had children because it will cause worry, confusion and even panic.

In order to respond to this phenomenon, he asked every parent to start avoiding children from meeting other people, especially if they are unknown parties. Meanwhile, mothers who have just given birth are expected not to first come into contact with outsiders.

“Now make it a habit to isolate their children more and vaccination is important for children over the age of six who are already 'eligible'. Including adults, don't take these children on a trip because it's very risky," said Dicky Budiman.

Separately, the General Chair of the Indonesian Pediatrician Association (IDAI) Dr. Piprim Basarah Yanuarso reported that cases of COVID-19 in children experienced a fairly high trend of increasing in the past month.

"Reports from friends at the branch show that there are 10 times more pediatric patients compared to January. The upward trend is extraordinary," said Piprim at a press conference in Jakarta, Wednesday (9/2).

He said the trend of increasing cases of COVID-19 in children increased since January 24, 2022 as many as 646 patients, January 31 2,775 patients, and February 7 reaching 7,190 patients or an increase of 300 percent.

Therefore, IDAI urges parents to prepare their children to comply with health procedures, especially children over two years old, wear proper masks, wash their hands, stay away from crowds and it is not recommended to bring children to the center of the crowd. Including not taking the child to an environment that has closed ventilation.