Children are at a higher risk of suffering from strokes after contracting Covid-19, claims a recent study. The study took 16 hospital patients who suffered an ischemic stroke between March 2020 and June 2021, soon after a surge in paediatric Covid-19 cases in the US. The study was published in the journal Paediatric Neurology. The researchers believe that the increased risk of stroke in children was due to the hyper-immune response that they had to Covid-19.
“It may be that hyper-immune response that comes later that’s causing kids to clot,” explained MaryGlen J. Veilleux, a pediatric neurology resident at the University of Utah Health and lead author of the study, She also said that the kids have a relatively low risk for stroke. While strokes are rare in children, the risk does increase after Covid-19.
The following are some ways in which Covid-19 has affected the health of children:
- Symptoms such as stomach ache, leg pains and bleeding in the gut
Leg pains, stomach aches and bleeding in the gut are some symptoms present in children when their body is exposed to Covid infections. They develop either excessive clotting or inadequate clotting due to elevated inflammatory markers, leading to various symptoms. - High risk of Heart Diseases
Doctors say that while infected by Covid-19 some children had dilatation of the arteries supplying blood to the heart. While in some cases the issue was resolved after a few weeks, others required close monitoring and treatment. In some cases, children even developed myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart. A majority of these were resolved over some time. - Brain-related symptoms such as headaches, convulsions, hallucinations
A large number of children developed neurological symptoms such as headaches, convulsions, and hallucinations. These symptoms usually subsided within a few weeks. - Fever
Fevers accompanied by coughs are a common occurrence in children. In Covid-19 infections, children would not respond to antihistamines or cough medications for cough and fever. Many children required steroids to control coughs and fevers. A large number of children behaved like patients with asthma. - Loss of appetite
Many children also suffered a loss of appetite while being exposed to COVID-19 along with other gastroenterological symptoms like constipation.