Private hospitals warn of rise in pediatric Covid-19 patients, urge Putrajaya to ramp up vaccination for kids

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 23 — Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia said today findings from a survey on its members indicate a rising trend of pediatric Covid-19 patients in their wards over the last two weeks.

Its president Datuk Dr Kuljit Singh said the survey results highlight the need to ramp up vaccination for children, noting that there had been several incidents where the child patient’s condition deteriorated into complications.

“Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia had a quick survey amongst its members and found that there is an increasing trend of pediatric Covid-19 patients in their wards in the recent one to two weeks,” he said in a statement.

“Almost all private hospitals have not reported a huge number of complicated Covid 19 pediatric patients with Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) associated with Covid-10 but there have been a few cases which progressed into this complication,” he added.

“It could be alarming if there is an increase.”

Vaccination programmes for children between 5 and 11 years old have commenced in some private hospitals. The group “strongly urged” parents to get their children vaccinated quickly once a date has been fixed.

“It’s very important to protect children from getting into the complications of Covid-19 as the condition of MIS-C can be a challenge to manage and treat,” Dr Kuljit said.

Seven children aged 18 and below in Malaysia have died of MIS-C due to Covid-19 infections, Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah revealed on Monday.

To date, there have been 174 children with MIS-C after being infected with the coronavirus between June 2020 and December 2021.

MIS-C is a critical condition where inflammation occurs in the organs, particularly in the heart, lungs, and brain.

Meanwhile, Dr Kuljit said there has been an increase in the number of adult admissions due to Covid-19.

Most of them are Category 1 to 3 patients. Intensive care unit admissions have been comparatively smaller to the wave that hit the middle of last year, the group noted.

“Our small number of ICU admission feature patients with co-morbid and who are unvaccinated or did not complete the booster dose,” said Dr Kuljit.