According to pediatricians at Boston Children’s Hospital, the omicron variant of the Sars coronavirus-2 has caused an increase in so-called pseudo-croup seizures in young children. In a study published in the journal Pediatrics, the authors write that because Omicron primarily affects the upper respiratory tract, in contrast to earlier variants, children are more likely to experience the clinical picture in which mucous membranes in the area around the larynx are inflamed has not yet been finally evaluated.
In it, the doctors report on 75 cases of children who were infected with Sars-CoV-2 and had developed pseudocroup seizures. The clinical picture usually occurs with an infection with respiratory viruses such as parainfluenza or RSV. Before Omikron, Corona was not one of the causes, but that seems to be changing now. As the study authors report, the seizures were more severe than usual with other pathogens. Nine of the 75 children had to be treated in hospital, four of them in intensive care.
In pseudocroup, the airways narrow due to the swelling. Most affected are babies and small children up to the age of about six years. They often get a barking cough, are hoarse, and make a wheezing noise when inhaling. Parents should soothe their child and let them breathe cold air and give them something cold to drink (but not milk). Also, you should consult a doctor. The syndrome can be treated with the administration of corticosteroids, such as dexamethasone, which is also used in adult Covid patients.
Pseudocroup is in contrast to “real croup”, an inflammation of the larynx in the course of diphtheria, which has become very rare in Europe as a result of vaccinations.