Will children infected with Omicron suffer from "COVID-19"? Is "croup" a serious warning sign? Expert: Seek medical attention immediately if "6 phenomena" occur
Omicron leading to increased hospital admissions among children? “Nature”: The chance of developing severe disease is reduced by 50%
There are currently 35 confirmed cases of severe severe illness in children in Taiwan (as of June 5). Many parents are worried that their children will develop “blast encephalitis” after being infected with the epidemic. Recently, there are reports of “croup”, pneumonia, sepsis, etc. in children with severe illness. complication. What worries more parents is whether children, like adults, will have long-term sequelae of “COVID-19” after being diagnosed.
An article published by the authoritative medical journal “Nature” at the beginning of this year showed that Omicron did cause a larger number of infected people than the Delta and Alpha mutant strains, and more people were hospitalized than during previous pandemics. It is understood that children account for about 5% of the Omicron hospitalized population in the United States, which is four times the number when Delta and other mutant strains were prevalent. However, the risk of children developing severe disease after hospitalization is reduced by 30%-50%.
Michael Absoud, an expert in maternal and child medicine at King’s College London, UK, pointed out that the Omicron epidemic has led to an increase in the hospitalization rate of children, but they rarely require medical intervention through respirators, oxygen bottles and other medical measures. However, children’s nasal passages are relatively small and easily blocked, so upper respiratory tract-related infections in children require special attention.
Are children diagnosed prone to croup? Parents should pay attention to “6 situations” and seek medical attention as soon as possible
American pediatrician Roberta DeBiasi said that the number of severely ill children suffering from “croup” has increased; and those with severe symptoms are more likely to suffer from croup than other diagnosed people. Croup is an inflammation of the upper respiratory tract. This also reveals that Omicron may affect children’s health in a different infection pattern than adults. In addition, according to a study in the journal “Pediatrics”, Omicron may indeed cause more severe croup symptoms than other diseases.
Ryan Brewster, author of the study, said that croup is a common respiratory disease in infants and young children. When children catch a cold or are infected by a virus, inflammation or swelling occurs around the larynx and bronchi, which is one of the main causes of croup. Studies indicate that more than 80% of croup cases occurred during the Omicron pandemic. Before COVID-19, less than 5% of patients required hospitalization, but in this study, the number of patients with croup requiring hospitalization rose to 12%.
Brewster also reminded parents that if their children have the following 7 conditions, it may be a precursor to COVID-19 combined with croup, and they should be sent to the hospital for treatment as soon as possible:
There are often noisy breathing and barking sounds during sleep at night.
Difficulty breathing.
Lips and nails turn purple.
Increased fatigue or drowsiness.
The body temperature is higher than 38°C for more than 3 days.
Croup symptoms that last for more than 7 days.
Will children infected with the epidemic suffer the sequelae of “growing COVID-19”? Should I be worried about “multiple organ inflammatory syndrome”?
In addition to concurrent diseases such as croup and encephalitis, whether children infected with the epidemic will suffer from “sequelae of COVID-19” is one of the mysteries that the academic community is eager to clarify. “Nature” pointed out that according to a previous study in Italy, more than 30% of children developed symptoms such as insomnia, fatigue, and muscle pain four months after being infected with the epidemic, similar to adults infected with COVID-19. Research shows that even children with mild or no symptoms are not immune to these effects.
However, German pediatrician Jakob Armann pointed out through research that the chance of children suffering from COVID-19 may be lower than imagined. An experiment involving 1,500 people confirmed that the proportion of children who actually suffer from COVID-19 is only about 10%, and the real number is likely to be as low as 1%. Armann said that more research is needed to confirm the symptoms of COVID-19 in children and the course of the disease.
DeBiasi said that it is still too early to assess whether children infected with the epidemic will develop “COVID-19”, but the risk of “multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children” (MIS-C) needs to be viewed with caution. According to the US CDC guidelines, the typical symptoms of MIS-C are fever, abdominal pain, bloodshot eyes, diarrhea, dizziness and headache, rash and vomiting.
“MIS-C symptoms usually appear 2-4 weeks after infection. Although this syndrome is extremely rare, the symptoms are more severe than those caused by COVID-19 and may have long-term effects on children’s health. It is generally believed that it can reduce the risk of infection MIS-C’s approach is still to administer the COVID-19 vaccine,” DeBiasi said.
Source:
COVID-19–Associated Croup in Children
Long COVID and kids: scientists race to find answers
Omicron COVID Causing Severe Croup in Young Children
Does Omicron hit kids harder? Scientists are trying to find out
For Parents: Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) associated with COVID-19
Further reading:
Are children seriously ill 10 times more likely than in Japan? Famous doctors reveal key reasons
