On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu's capital city Chennai accounted for 103 of the total 121 positive cases of coronavirus tested in the state. While this statistic by itself is worrying, what caught people's attention were the cases of young children below 10 years who were found to be infected by the virus. And amongst the eight fresh cases of infected children was a 5-day-old baby, the youngest to have contracted the virus in the state so far.
According to authorities at the Kilpauk Medical College (KMC), the child was delivered at the Cantonment Board General Hospital in Pallavaram. Four days after the delivery, the mother developed symptoms of the virus and her samples were tested and found to be positive for the virus. She was then shifted to KMC where doctors tested the child as well, since the mother was positive. On finding the baby girl to be positive, it was decided that mother and child will be treated at the same hospital.
"The mother is having post-delivery issues and mild symptoms of COVID-19 including fever. We are treating the mother but for the baby we are not giving any medicine as it doesn't have any symptoms. We are giving vitamins to the child and if she develops any symptoms, we will give azithromycin," says the Dean, Dr.Vasanthamani.
While authorities have confirmed that the child's infection came from the mother, the primary contact in this case has not been revealed.
The Dean further advises pregnant women and their families to be more careful, considering the ongoing pandemic.
"In addition to regular precautions such as social distancing and avoiding going out, pregnant women need to reduce contact with their own families including their other children because children are carriers of the virus. If they are nearing 36 weeks they can take a swab test and once more at 39 weeks," says the Dean. "Based on test results they can plan the delivery," she adds.
As of now, medical staff at KMC are ensuring that the mother breastfeeds the infected child to help transfer 'maternal immunity'.
"We have 5 male children and 2 female children below 13 in our hospital now," says the Dean. "They are all being carefully monitored."