'No Data To Show Children Will Be Seriously Infected In Subsequent COVID-19 Waves': AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria

All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Director Dr Randeep Guleria on Tuesday (8 June) said that there was no data available either in India or globally which could suggest that the subsequent COVId-19 waves are going to cause severe illness in children.

“It is a piece of misinformation that subsequent waves of the COVID-19 pandemic are going to cause severe illness in children. There is no data - either from India or globally - to show that children will be seriously infected in subsequent waves.” Dr Guleria said during a media briefing on COVID-19, held at Press Information Bureau's National Media Centre in Delhi.

Dr Guleria said that 60 to 70 per cent of the children who got infected and were admitted to hospitals during the second wave in India, had either comorbidities or low immunity. Healthy children recovered with mild illness without need for hospitalisation, the AIIMS Director said, according to a Ministry of Health statement.

He also urged people to follow COVID-appropriate behaviour to avoid future waves of the pandemic, as one of the main reason behind a wave can be human behaviour.

“Whenever cases increase, there is a fear in people and human behaviour changes. People strictly follow COVID Appropriate behaviours and non-pharmaceutical interventions help break the chain of transmission. But when unlocking resumes, people tend to think that not much infection will happen and tend to not follow COVID appropriate behaviour. Due to this, the virus again starts spreading in the community, leading potentially to another wave," Dr Guleria said.