Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Parents of young children in the city are worried that a large number of kids getting admitted to hospitals with complaints of viral fever, diarrhea and vomiting may be an indication of the onset of the third wave of Covid-19 pandemic.
They have taken all sorts of precautions to protect their young ones from the disease, ranging from not allowing the children to venture out of homes, avoiding visiting crowded places and shunning outside food.
According to reports, more than 200 children suffering from viral fever are admitted in various hospitals in the city, with some of them on ventilator support.
Vandana Naik, an artist, refuses to believe that these are cases of ordinary viral fever. “Viral fever normally subsides in three-four days and rarely requires hospitalisation,” she says. Vandana, the mother of a son and a daughter aged 8 and 2 years respectively, said that it may be Corona. She is not visiting parks and markets and her son, when he goes to a nearby tutor for two hours every day, wears a mask and carries a bottle of sanitizer. They are drinking water from a copper vessel and serve an Ayurvedic kadha to the children every day. Vandana is clear that she won’t be sending her son to school till he gets vaccinated.
Homemaker Sonia Soni also fears that the disease may be a form of Covid-19. Sonia has two sons. The elder one is 13 and the younger, 8. She says that though her elder son’s school has started in-person classes, she is not sending him to school. “The hospital of the pediatrician we take our children to is already overflowing with patients. I don’t know what we will do if, god forbid, my kids fall ill,” she said.
Javed Khan, a social activist and the father of a daughter and a son says that the viral fever may be a ‘mutated form of Covid-19’. “The symptoms are the same - cold, cough and fever,” he reasons. Khan says that they have stopped ordering pizzas and burgers online. “I make sure that whenever I come from outside, I change my clothes before meeting the kids,” he said.
Megha Murankar, a homemaker, is sure that the rising cases of viral fever among children are an indication of the beginning of the third wave of pandemic. She said that she was just back from a doctor’s as both her sons, aged 12 and 7 years respectively, were suffering from cough and cold. “I give them haldi wala doodh every night. I make them wear trousers and full-sleeved shirts and I don’t allow them to play with other kids. I only allow them to ride bicycles as that doesn’t involve coming in close contact with others,” she said.
