“The SARS-CoV-2 virus can affect pediatric patients in different ways: It can cause acute illness, where symptomatic illness appears soon after infection, or children can develop an an inflammatory condition called MIS-C a few weeks after clearing the virus,” said lead author Ericka Fink, MD, a pediatrician at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, and associate professor of care medicine. critical and pediatrics at Pitt. “One of the big questions for the consortium was whether the neurological manifestations in the pediatric patients were similar or different, depending on which of the two conditions.”
To answer this question, researchers recruited 30 critical care centers for children around the world. Of the 1,493 hospitalized children, 1,278, or 86%, were diagnosed with acute SARS-CoV-2; 215 children, or 14%, were diagnosed with MIS-C, or childhood multisystem inflammatory syndrome, which usually presents weeks after viral clearance and is characterized by fever, inflammation, and dysfunction. agency capacity.
The most common neurological manifestations associated with acute COVID-19 are headache, acute encephalopathy, and convulsions, while young adults with MIS-C often present with headache, acute encephalopathy, and dizziness. Lesser symptoms of both conditions include loss of smell, impaired vision, stroke, and mental confusion.
“Thankfully, childhood mortality is low for both SARS-CoV-2 and acute MIS-C,” says Fink. “But this study shows that the frequency of neurological manifestations is high and it may actually be higher than what we found because these symptoms are not always documented in the medical record or For example, we can’t tell if a child is having a headache.”
The analysis showed that neurological manifestations were more common in children with MIS-C than in those with acute SARS-CoV-2, and that children with MIS-C were more likely to have two or more neurological manifestations. menstrual periods compared with those with MIS-C.
According to Fink, the team recently launched a follow-up study to determine whether acute SARS-CoV-2 and MIS-C are neurogenic or absent. long-term effects on the child’s health and quality of life after discharge.
“Another long-term goal of this study is to build a database that tracks neurological manifestations over time not only for SARS-CoV-2 but also for other types of infections.” she added. “Some countries have excellent databases that allow them to easily track and compare hospitalized children, but we don’t have such a source in the US”
Source: Eurekalert
