BENGALURU: One-year-old Vishalini has been in hospital for over a month, battling Covid-19 on a ventilator, her lungs severely affected by SARS-CoV-2.In the last week of October Vishalini had high fever and trouble breathing. Her parents, daily wage workers, took her to Vani Vilas Hospital on October 26. But since her condition turned more serious, she was moved to Rainbow Children’s Hospital on October 30. A test revealed she had Covid-19. Her blood pressure fluctuating, and platelet count low, doctors put her on ventilator as she developed complications of pneumonia.
“Usually, only the elderly are so severely affected by Covid-19. But seeing such severe effect on the lungs in a one-year-old is shocking and surprising for us. Many children who got Covid had mild fever for two or three or four days and recovered well,” said Rakshay Shetty, lead paediatric intensivist at the hospital.
A week after she was admitted to Rainbow, Vishalini’s condition stabilised, her blood pressure and platelet count returned to normal.
But her lungs continued to show progressive change seen in Covid-19 pneumonia and a CT scan showed over 95% of both her lungs were severely affected. Conventional ventilator support wasn’t enough and doctors used Airway Pressure Release Ventilation, but her lungs continued to break down due to the prolonged illness. Doctors then used High Frequency Oscillatory Ventilation which helps when the lungs crumble so easily that they break down and release air inside the chest cavity.
“We did parallel investigation to understand whether there was any underlying problem with immunity but she did not have any abnormality in her immune system. Vishalini was given antibiotics and remdesivir, but she was Covid positive even after 14 days,” Dr Shetty said.Vishalini’s lungs still haven’t improved and doctors are considering surgically removing a part of her lungs. If that does not work, they will consider putting her on an ECMO machine, which takes over the function of the heart and lungs temporarily so that they can rest and heal.
However, Vishalini’s parents need around Rs 15 lakh to pay hospital bill and the cost of surgery. The doctors say they have raised Rs 3 lakh through a crowdfunding campaign, including one on Milaap.Saktivel, Vishalini’s mother, told The New Indian Express, “Whatever savings we had, are all gone after paying for her blood tests and medicines. We have no money and we need funds to treat our daughter. She is our first child and we want her to recover. We need help.”