Some children who have had severe cases of coronavirus may develop neurological issues, according to new research.
Researchers from Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children looked at 27 children who developed multisystem inflammatory syndrome, a severe inflammatory response that seems to be linked to Covid-19.
Four of them experienced neurological conditions and had to be admitted to intensive care for an average of one week. Their average age was 12.
These patients experienced headaches, confusion and muscle weakness, and had slowed activity in nerves and muscle fibres.
Two of the four recovered fully after receiving medications to treat their inflammation, and were discharged after 11 and 18 days, while the other two to show symptoms, and are reliant on wheelchairs as a result of muscle weakness in their legs. They are improving, but remain inpatients.
Close neurodevelopmental surveillance, the paper, published in JAMA Neurology, states, is needed so that clinicians can assess the neurological and cognitive outcomes of patients with neurological symptoms.
clinicians should consider Covid-19 when diagnosing for children presenting with new neurologic symptoms and this imaging finding while still exploring other possible causes.
Furthermore, because respiratory symptoms were uncommon in this cohort and, when present, were mild and easily missed, and because reports are growing of children carrying COVID-19 infection without symptoms (with this condition likely presenting late), SARS-CoV-2 should also be considered in pediatric patients presenting with primary neurologic symptoms without systemic involvement.
This researcher follows on a study in Wuhan, China, where just over a third of adult patients had neurological symptoms, including dizziness, headache and even seizures.
