Viral flu cases of children in 12 Karnataka districts on rise

Bengaluru: The Karnataka health department is closely observing the developments in 12 districts, including Bengaluru as a large number of children have got affected with viral flu amid the fears of the Covid third wave to hit the children.

The parents, who had heaved a sigh of relief after the reopening of schools are now concerned about development.

The children showing symptoms of cold, cough, fever and breathing issues are getting admitted to hospitals for the past 15 days in the state. Though, the experts are saying that it is normal viral flu found in the rainy season, the health department sources say that the fingers are crossed over the development.

The most number of cases are reported from Bellary, Yadgir, Chikkaballapur and Chitradurga districts. Along with this, more children are being admitted to hospitals in Raichur, Bidar, Ramnagar, Belagavi, Vijayapura, Kalburgi and Bagalkot districts.

Consultations to private clinics and pediatric hospitals are also rising in these districts.

All beds are full in the K.C. General hospital, one of the main government hospitals in Bengaluru. The children affected with cough, cold, fever, breathing issues are being admitted and treated. A few cases of Pneumonia and Dengue are also being treated.

All children who faced breathing issues are subjected to RT-PCR tests and no Covid positive case has been found. The symptoms are found in the children among the age group of 1 and 3 years rather than in the school-going children, explains Dr Lakshmipathy, the pediatric division head in K.C. General Hospital.

The district health hospital ward in Bellary is full and people from the rural areas are staying with their children on the premises looking up for admissions in the hospitals. The Bellary district hospital has 30 dedicated beds for children. The hospital authorities have arranged another 23 beds to treat children, explained District health officer Dr Janardhan.

Along with district hospitals, taluk hospitals are also seeing a rush in admissions of children for viral infection. On an everyday basis, as many as 150 to 200 kids are being treated for viral flu in each of the district hospitals and 50 to 60 children are being admitted.

About 50 kids are admitted to the district hospital in Chikkaballapur with symptoms of cold, cough and fever, the native district of the Health Minister K. Sudhakar. The influenza cases are on the rise in districts of Bidar, Kolar, Belagavi, Bagalkot districts.

Meanwhile, the state government has undertaken a massive Covid-19 vaccination drive in the state on Friday. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has announced that the state has set a 30 lakh vaccination target for the entire state in one day. He will kickstart the drive from Kalburgi. Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta stated that he has set a target of 5 lakh vaccinations in Bengaluru alone.