Number of positive cases of covid

Children turned out to be one of the groups that are vulnerable to being infected with COVID-19. The Indonesian Pediatric Association (IDAI) noted that the number of COVID-19 cases in children in Indonesia is even the highest in Asia.

The number of cases is probably higher considering that there are few cases of people without symptoms (OTG) who do the examination.

Positive cases of COVID-19 in children in Indonesia

Chairman of the Central Board of the Indonesian Pediatrician Association (IDAI), DR. dr. Aman Bhakti Pulungan, SpA (K), FAAP, FRCPI (Hon) revealed data on COVID-19 cases in children in Indonesia some time ago.

The following is a breakdown of the number of cases from the IDAI data which was updated on Monday (18/5).

• Patients under supervision (PDP) of children were 3,324 cases.
• Children with PDP status who died were 129 cases.
• There were 584 children confirmed positive for COVID-19.
• There were 14 child deaths due to positive COVID-19 infection.

Doctor Aman said the number of COVID-19 cases in children in Indonesia was the highest in Asia. He gave an example of Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines, which until now had no reports of child deaths due to COVID-19.

According to Aman, the high number of cases of transmission in children was due to the lack of COVID-19 examinations and screening carried out on children. The lack of tests carried out resulted in delays in detection and treatment.

"If early detection is carried out as much as possible, the number of COVID-19 cases in children will not be this much," said doctor Aman in live Instagram with the Mother and Father community on Wednesday (20/5).

COVID-19 Outbreak updates Country: IndonesiaData

1,012,350

Confirmed

820,356

Recovered

28,468

DeathDistribution Map

In an official statement on Friday (22/5), IDAI advised the government not to open schools in the near future. Opening schools at this time is not the right choice because the spread of COVID-19 in schools will be difficult to control.

From this data, IDAI also emphasized that the assumption that children are not a group that is vulnerable to COVID-19 is a wrong opinion. In fact, complications of COVID-19 infection can also occur in children. If the transmission to children continues to increase, it is feared that the hospital will be overwhelmed and unable to accommodate the patient.

"There is not enough hospital if the rate of transmission in children continues to increase. Indonesia does not yet have a special children's hospital for handling COVID-19, ”explained doctor Aman.

What is the risk of a child infected with COVID-19?

Launch Harvard Health Publishing , a pediatric study in China showed that about 90% of children infected with COVID-19 experience no symptoms or experience only mild to moderate symptoms.

This means that when children get COVID-19, they will show milder symptoms such as fever and cough.

However, this data is refuted by data on COVID-19 cases in children in Indonesia who are also at risk of experiencing severe symptoms. So, the understanding that children will only experience mild symptoms when infected with COVID-19 is refuted.

"Data findings (IDAI) show the high morbidity and mortality rates for children due to COVID-19 in Indonesia," wrote IDAI.

Symptoms of COVID-19 infection in children can be the same as adults, such as coughing, heat, tightness, or symptoms of pneumonia. In addition, children infected with COVID-19 can also show symptoms of diarrhea, nausea and vomiting.

"To say that a child (infected with COVID-19) cannot be fatal, that is not true," explained Doctor Aman.

Doctors Aman classifies these symptoms into two types, namely pneumonia and diarrhea. These two types of symptoms should be of concern, pneumonia and diarrhea are in the top ranks of causes of child mortality in Indonesia. From UNICEF data in 2018, it is estimated that around 19,000 Indonesian children died from pneumonia.

There are indeed different symptoms caused by COVID-19 infection for each patient. COVID-19 infection in children is a complicated case.

In the United States, dozens of children are being treated for experiencing symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease and experts believe the disease has something to do with COVID-19. If left untreated, this disease can damage the blood vessels leading to the heart.

Severe symptoms in children infected with COVID-19 are also prone to occur in children with other comorbidities.

Can children infect their parents?

Although most cases of COVID-19 in children are transmitted from their parents, children also have the potential to infect other people.

If a child is positive for COVID-19 without symptoms, it is difficult to know how much potential they have to transmit the corona virus to others. There is little evidence that children are not very infectious.

Research conducted by University of Queensland found that children were the source of transmission in less than 10% of cases. This report is published by the journal The Lancet but not yet through review from peers (peer reviewed).

To prevent children from becoming a source of transmission, IDAI advised to postpone plans for schools to open when COVID-19.

They also suggest doing more screening in children. Doctor Aman said that when a pediatric patient comes with complaints of symptoms of COVID-19 infection, he should be examined immediately.

“ Testing should be as much as possible, I mean this is not PCR rapid test . Rapid test for children, I don't believe in the results yet, ”said the doctor Aman.

Increasing and accelerating this detection, besides functioning to prevent wider transmission, also accelerates handling of children. It should be noted that late detection can make the symptoms worse.

"Regardless of comorbid (comorbidities), if the detection is higher then we can save it more, "said Doctor Aman.