By Dr. Pramod Kulkarni

Home Care for Children Infected with Covid-19

After long months, in these just opened, less restricted, inviting social times of festivity, we all need to be vigilant, careful and well prepared for next few months for a probable, challenging resurge of COVID menace.

The fundamental pillars of effective management of COVID in children are:
1. Risk /severity based triaging and management of children with mild COVID at home
2. Involvement & responsive care by parents and all family members
3. Nutritious diet and healthy feeding practices
4. Age-appropriate psychological care and support

Every child suspected to have COVID infection needs proper evaluation at a dedicated fever clinic, appropriate testing and advice by a trained child healthcare professional.

Many kids have positive test for SARS CoV II virus, due to contact with a symptomatic COVID +ve adult at home. Most of the infected kids do not have any symptom and very few may have variable fever, cold or cough and not having any red flag signs.

COVID in children presents with different grades of severity & needs appropriate interventions accordingly. Most of the cases (~95%) are mild in severity and can be successfully managed by family at home with well informed, educated, personal care.

Less than 5% of all children having COVID infection need in-hospital management and rarely (<2%) may need high level/ critical care in PICU/ NICU/ HDU. The red flag signs for such rare hospitalisation need in a children are:
1. Co-morbidity- obesity or chronic heart/ kidney/ liver/ lung/ brain/ immunity disease
2. Any sign of pneumonia suggested by fast breathing for age/ difficulty in breathing
3. Any sign of shock, bleeding, brain, heart, major organ dysfunction


Children with mild COVID are managed scientifically and effectively at home as follows:

1. Stay home bound - quarantine of 14 days
2. Grandparents and high-risk family members to stay separate
3. All to strictly follow ‘SMS’- Social distancing, correct use of a Mask and frequent Sanitisation
4. Continue age-appropriate normal diet including breast feeding and extra fluid intake
5. No Antibiotic/ No investigations, Only paracetamol and WHO ORS as needed
6. Vigilant regular monitoring by parents/ healthcare worker. Keeping chart of temperature, pulse, breathing rate, SpO2, Urine output, activity and reporting daily to the fever clinic on phone.
7. Any change/ red flag signs to be reported to and followed by visit to the fever clinic/ hospital





Most of these children with mild COVID get well by 3- 5 days but do need continued isolation for total of 14 days, due psychological support and watchful routine healthcare over next months. Not to forget regular age appropriate vaccines to protect from other infectious diseases! So get braced up to rightly suspect, manage and control COVID infection and disease in kids!

Dr. Pramod Kulkarni

Consultant - Paediatrics