Most children catching Covid-19 from adults, says MMA
PETALING JAYA: The rising number of Covid-19 cases among children is caused by exposure to school staff or older relatives at home who are positive, says the Malaysian Medical Association.
Its president Dr Subramaniam Muniandy was responding to the health ministry recording 82,341 Covid-19 cases involving infants and children in Malaysia, 30,000 of which were recorded in just a week.
Of the total, 19,851 were children below the age of four. Subramaniam noted that most of those within this category rarely left their homes.
“As such they would have gotten it from exposure to Covid-19 positive adults in the family,” he told FMT.
Commenting on the 8,237 cases involving children aged five or six, he said it was possible that this younger group had better immune systems and response to eliminate the virus.
He pointed out that those between the ages of seven to 17 were probably exposed to the virus at school, and mainly contracted it from teachers or school staff.
“Even though schools maintained strict SOP within classrooms, there is crowding in the school compounds before and after school sessions, especially at the entrance when the parents drop them off or pick them up.”
As of May 31, 26,851 children aged seven to 12 and 27,402 teenagers aged 13 to 17 tested positive for the virus.
Subramaniam also said there was no clear link between the rise in infections among children and new Covid-19 variants, although some countries had found that the new variants could affect the younger population more severely.
He added that other nations such as India, Brazil and Indonesia were also seeing more children being infected with the virus, with many more severe cases during their second wave.
“Child mortality from Covid-19 in these countries is also increasing. Overcrowding and malnutrition has also put them at higher risk of mortality and morbidity.”
Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah previously revealed that the country had recorded three deaths involving children under the age of five in the first five months of 2021.
Noor Hisham also said 27 children had been admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) this year, 19 of whom were below five. This is a significant increase compared with the eight children in the ICU last year.
Despite the higher number of children in the ICU, Subramaniam said the majority of them did not require mechanical ventilation.
“They were admitted to the ICU for close observation. The mortality rate among children below 18 years of age is, fortunately, still very low,” he said.
According to Subramaniam, the best solution to protect children is to vaccinate a sufficient portion of the adult population in Malaysia to achieve herd immunity.
“The next step is to vaccinate the adolescent age group and later the younger children, once clinical studies assure safety and efficacy.” - FMT
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