An 18-month-old baby from Villupuram tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday, a day after he died at the Villupuram Government College Hospital. Confirming the news, a health official from Villupuram said that the child’s cause of death has been registered as aspiration pneumonia. The child was taken to the government hospital in Villupuram on Friday reportedly after choking on his food.
Aspiration pneumonia is a complication in pulmonary aspiration where food particles, stomach acid, or saliva is inhaled into your lungs. The bacteria in these items affect the lungs and cause pneumonia and result in complications.
“The child had cerebral palsy and was brought to the hospital by its family members when it choked on its food. It is quite common among children, to choke on their food,” he says.
According to the information shared by Dean of Villupuram Government College Hospital, Dr Kundhavai Devi, the child was brought to the hospital on June 26 around 11 am, and passed away a day later on June 27 at 7 am. While she maintains that the child was not brought to the hospital with COVID-19 symptoms like fever or cough, the Dean confirmed that the cause of death has been listed as “Global developmental delay/spastic cerebral palsy/microcephaly/shock/
Consequently, after the child’s test reports returning positive, health officials have identified about 50 individuals with whom the child has interacted recently, including close family members and neighbours, to be immediately screened for COVID-19 and isolated. “We will now be testing all of them,” the health official added.
Villupuram has reported 765 COVID-19 cases as on date of which 300 are active. A total of 13 persons have died due to COVID-19 in the district as of June 27.