An estimated secondary attack rate and age-specific death ratios for SARS-CoV-2 were used to cluster the deaths due to the pandemic.
‘COVID-induced deaths made children lose their parents and caregivers. In India, twelve children have lost both their parents.’
The findings showed that
Over eleven lakh children lost a parent or custodial grandparent due to Covid-19
Of these, 10,42,000 children lost their mother, father, or both
The countries that were highly affected by this issue include Peru, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Iran, the USA, Argentina, and Russia
In India, 25,500 children lost their mother to Covid-19 while 90,751 lost their father and 12 lost both their parents
According to the authors, these deaths constitute a hidden pandemic that poses a serious threat to the kids’ mental health. Children who have lost a caregiver are also more vulnerable to the risk of disease, physical abuse, sexual violence, and adolescent pregnancy than those who have caregivers.
“Accelerating equitable vaccine delivery is key to prevention. Psychosocial and economic support can help families to nurture children bereft of caregivers and help to ensure that institutionalization is avoided. These data show the need for an additional pillar of our response: prevent, detect, respond, and care for children,” they highlighted.
Source: Medindia
