PETALING JAYA: Private hospitals have been filling up with children infected with Covid-19 in the past one or two weeks, says the Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM).

       Its president Datuk Dr Kuljit Singh said there were also some private hospitals that reported no paediatric Covid-19 admissions but a high number of cases with very mild symptoms.

       “Almost all private hospitals have not reported a huge number of Covid-19 paediatric patients with the Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) associated with Covid-19.

       “However, there have been a few cases which had progressed to this complication and it could be alarming if there is an increase,” he added.

       Dr Kuljit said paediatricians in private hospitals had been updated on how to manage such complications and APHM would also be conducting webinars presented by public hospital paediatricians this week.

       He noted that vaccination programmes for children aged between five and 11 had begun in some private hospitals and “we strongly urge parents to get their children vaccinated quickly once a date is fixed”.

       “It’s very important to protect children from getting such Covid-19 complications as MIS-C can be a challenge to manage and treat,” he said in a statement yesterday.

       Dr Kuljit also said there was an increase in normal private ward admissions with Categories 1 to 3 adult Covid-19 patients but a small number in intensive care unit (ICU) admissions compared to the middle of last year.

       “Our small number of ICU admissions is patients with comorbidities and are unvaccinated or haven’t got their booster dose,” he added.

       Dr Kuljit also stressed that private hospitals have never used ivermectin to treat Covid-19 patients since the start of the pandemic.