What We Know About Serious Symptoms of COVID-19 in Children
There has been a lot of news lately about a new condition called pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome , which is similar to a rare childhood disease called Kawasaki disease. This new syndrome is starting to appear in children in the United States and is believed to be related to COVID-19 infection. As with many things related to this pandemic, there is still a lot we do not know about this syndrome and what it means, but it is worth investigating what we know so far about COVID-19 symptoms in children.
Children become infected less frequently and their symptoms are easier.
“In general, babies don’t get infected that often,” says Michael Chang , an infectious disease specialist at UTHealth’s McGovern School of Medicine. Of the reported cases, children account for only a small percentage , from 1-2%, with most children in contact with a family member with COVID-19. This observation is true for many countries.
Overall, given what we know so far, it seems that children do not become infected as often, and when they do, their symptoms are milder. Children also experience a slightly different set of symptoms. Although many children have fever and cough as their main symptoms, they are less likely to experience these symptoms than adults . Reported symptoms include cold symptoms such as fever, cough and runny nose, as well as vomiting and diarrhea.
However, while most children experience milder symptoms, there is still a small group who are sick enough to be hospitalized. A recent article published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics looked at 48 children who were sick enough to be hospitalized. About half of the children were classified as patients with complex medical conditions, which means they required high-level medical care . A total of 40 of the 48 had comorbidities, ranging from obesity and diabetes to immunosuppression, which was often associated with cancer treatments. The other eight children had no known underlying medical conditions.
A new inflammatory syndrome similar to Kawasaki disease emerged.
Childhood Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome is still very rare, but parents should be aware of this if their child becomes ill. Kawasaki disease occurs in about 1 in 10,000 American children , although the exact incidence of this new syndrome is still not known. New York State is currently investigating 110 possible cases of patients ranging in age from infants to 21 years of age. By comparison , New York State has 343,051 confirmed cases of COVID-19 to date.
Symptoms of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children include fever lasting more than 24 hours, abdominal pain, diarrhea or vomiting, rash or discoloration of the skin, shortness of breath or drowsiness and / or confusion. These symptoms are similar to Kawasaki disease , a very rare inflammatory disorder that occurs in very young children, usually before the age of five.
“Parents need to monitor the development of these symptoms,” says Ashlesha Koshik , National Representative of the American Academy of Pediatrics and Specialist in Pediatric Infectious Diseases. “Information is power.”
In pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome, symptoms are higher , some children also develop heart complications and show signs of shock, which was not the case in cases of Kawasaki disease. While the likelihood that your child will develop this syndrome is still considered very, very low, it is important to seek immediate help if your child becomes ill.
“If you have any questions, get your pediatrician’s opinion,” says Koshyk.
Inflammatory disease: the immune system has gone awry
“What we think is going on here [is] that the active infection can go away, but for some reason the immune system forgets to shut down,” says Chang.
Many patients with this new inflammatory syndrome test positive for the virus or antibodies against the virus. However, not all patients are. This means that doctors say it is a syndrome that appears to be related to COVID-19, but the exact connection is still unclear.
“It’s more like an inference and association than a clear causal relationship,” says Chang.
What is believed to be happening is that children contract COVID-19 – sometimes only in a very mild form – but later their immune systems remain active despite the threat disappearing, causing the inflammatory disease. Although the exact trigger for Kawasaki disease is still unknown, the symptoms are the result of an inability of the immune system to shut down, leading to inflammation throughout the body.
“When you have an overactive immune system, many of the clinical signs are similar,” says Chang.
There are treatments for this new syndrome.
While this new inflammatory syndrome is worrying, it is still very, very rare, meaning your child is very unlikely to develop it. If your child is unlucky, the good news is that there are treatments available.
“Most children who develop this inflammatory syndrome in children will recover with appropriate treatment,” says Chang. Treatment is similar to the anti-inflammatory treatment used for Kawasaki disease, which includes steroids and intravenous immunoglobulins .
In the midst of it all, don’t delay vaccinating your kids.
We’ve written about this before, but even in the midst of all these worries and fears, it is very important that your children are aware of their vaccinations . While these new symptoms certainly raise new concerns, and you may be tempted to delay taking your child to the doctor for a check-up, continuing the vaccine is more important than ever.
To ensure the safety of their patients, pediatric offices have implemented a number of protective measures, such as separating hospital visits from patient visits, reducing the time spent in the waiting room, and ensuring that all staff and patients are wearing a mask. …
“Please do not skip vaccinations,” says Koshik. “We don’t want to see a new epidemic in the middle of this pandemic.”