15-year-old boy critical with Covid & typhoid gets well, goes home

Time of India

2 days ago

Kolkata: Amidst reports of a few Covid-19 related deaths across the country, no such deaths were reported from Bengal during this current spike. In fact, a 15-year-old boy who had a double infection of Covid-19 and typhoid was discharged from hospital.
The teenager was admitted to Peerless Hospital on May 24 with a high-grade fever and other gastrointestinal problems. Test reports confirmed Covid-19.
On Monday, four Covid-19 related deaths were reported – one each from Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Kerala. Two of the deaths were patients in their early 20s, with other existing health conditions.
While the boy from Rishra had no existing health conditions, he was rushed to the Kolkata hospital with complaints of severe dehydration, loose stool, vomiting, throat pain, and a history of high-grade fever which refused to subside despite medication by local doctors.
Due to the viral infection symptoms, a viral panel test was conducted. While the result was negative for all other respiratory viruses, doctors found the boy's swab samples positive for SARS-CoV-2.
"We kept him in isolation and treated him for all symptoms, including severe dehydration. But we observed that while the other symptoms were getting resolved with medication, the fever was not persisting," said paediatrics critical care specialist Saheli Dasgupta, under whom the boy was admitted in Peerless Hospital.
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Suspecting some secondary infection, his blood samples were sent to the lab for blood culture, and the boy was found to have a typhoid infection.
"Since the fever was persisting and a few other symptoms were not matching with Covid-19 alone, we had to look for the presence of other infections. The blood culture confirmed typhoid. This was a clear case of dual infection of Covid-19 and typhoid, and we had to take all precautions so that we continued the treatment for both infections," added Dasgupta.
Experts said that even during the two waves of the Covid pandemic, many children were found infected. But unlike in adults, the infection was generally mild in children. However, dual infection could be risky for both children and adults. There have been several cases of Covid-19 with dual infections, including those of dengue, malaria, and scrub typhus, where doctors have to be extra careful in treating those patients.
The 15-year-old recovered during the treatment and was discharged from hospital after seven days with the advice to stay in isolation for at least seven more days. Sources said that the father, who brought the boy to the hospital, also tested positive for Covid-19, but he is in home isolation and has only mild symptoms.