A SHIVER ran down the spine of Rahula Loh, 31, when she found out her 15-month-old baby, Leia, caught Covid-19.
Leia had a fever of 40.6°C, mild cough and diarrhoea. Loh also tested positive for Covid-19.
“If my baby hadn’t tested positive, I would never have guessed that I had Covid-19,” she said.
Two days after being rushed to the hospital, Leia’s fever subsided.
Leia’s father, Jasmon Lim, 43, tested positive, too.
He had a fever and experienced loss of taste and smell, but recovered a few days later.
Likewise, The Star’s photographer Chan Boon Kai, 44, thought he had the flu in late July, but lost his sense of taste and smell on the second day of the infection.
“I used a home test kit and found out that I was positive for Covid-19.
“The doctor gave me five days of medical leave,” he said.
“I wore my mask. I kept my distance from everybody.
“No one else in our office caught Covid-19,” Chan said, adding that his sense of taste and smell came back after five days.
Paediatrician Dr Tan Pek Yong, who treated Leia, said Covid-19 infections in children are generally mild now, but young children can still develop a high fever.
“In many cases, Covid-19 is even less severe than influenza,” he said, adding that most children get better after two or three days.
However, parents should seek medical attention if a child has a persistent fever of over 39°C despite medication, becomes dehydrated or lethargic, eats or drinks less, or develops breathing difficulties.
Dr Tan also said mothers with Covid-19 can continue breastfeeding but should maintain good hygiene and wear a mask.
Consultant public health and occupational health physician Dr Chow Sze Loon said Covid-19 is less likely to cause severe illness now because immunity to the virus has increased.
Dr Chow, who was South Seberang Perai district health officer at the height of the pandemic, said the virus is endemic but continues to mutate like the influenza virus.
However, senior citizens and those with a weakened immune system are still at high risk.
Meanwhile, Penang health director Dr Zulhizzam Abdullah said there is no worrying Covid-19 trend in the state as cases are mild and do not require hospitalisation or quarantine.
