In what is being dubbed as the fastest recovery from Covid-19 in Uttarakhand, a nine-month-old baby boy, the youngest patient in the state so far —- who was admitted at Doon Hospital on March 17— was discharged within six days of treatment on Thursday. The boy, who tested negative twice in 48 hours, is believed to have got the infection from his father who is still under treatment.
Dr NS Khatri, nodal officer for Covid-19 at the Government Doon Medical College & Hospital (GDMCH) told TOI that the case was a challenge for doctors. “Because of the tender age of the infant, the situation was a challenging one as he could not be kept isolated without his mother. As a result, the doctors had to take care of both the baby and the mother who had tested negative.”
He added that the father of the baby works in the local mosque in Bhagat Singh Colony (a containment zone in Dehradun where a Jamaat from Kanpur had stayed in March). “After receiving the reports of the father, we tested the baby, his mother and seven other siblings of which only he tested positive,” said Dr Khatri.
Dr Anurag Agarwal, who treated the baby, added that despite the challenges in treating infants due to restrictions on certain medications, the baby managed to make a quick recovery.
“The good thing was that the child was totally asymptomatic and remained cheerful. We didn’t even use much medication in his case. His recovery has spread smiles among the entire staff of the hospital,” he said, adding that another speedy recovery was that of a trainee Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer who was the second case of Covid-19 in the state. “He was calm and composed and hence responded to the treatment fairly well. He also managed to recover in 10 days,” Dr Agarwal added.
Commenting on the case, Dr Deepjyoti Kalita, associate professor of microbiology and nodal officer of Covid-19 at All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Rishikesh said, “We cannot clearly say since how long this child was infected, which is also a factor that influences the speed of recovery. However, it is established in some researches that kids are less susceptible to the coronavirus than adults. There are various reasons for this and one is the vaccinations that are given to them on a regular basis,” he added.
Additional secretary (health) Yugal Kishore Pant meanwhile said that the 9-month-old is possibly “the fastest recovery in the country.” He added that the child was kept with his mother, who was feeding him and giving him proper care, which can be the reason of his speedy recovery.
