American pediatricians have found that the Covid-19 variant causes more laryngitis in babies, otherwise known as “croup”.
Omicron has not finished talking about him. According to a new American study published in the journal Pediatrics, the Omicron variant would cause a new complication in young children: croup. Indeed, the airways of children being smaller than those of adults, the Omicron variant could cause more severe clinical presentations resembling laryngotracheobronchitisalso called croupsay the researchers.
What was the profile of children with croup?
Between March 1, 2020 and January 15, 2022, 75 children, hospitalized in Boston, were diagnosed with Covid associated with croup (or “seal cough”), 81% of them during the Omicron wave. Most patients were male (72%) and aged less than 2 years old and 88% required admission to an emergency department. None of the patients died.
“There was a very clear delineation between when Omicron became the dominant variant and when we started to see an increase in the number of patients with croup,” explained Ryan Brewster, one of the study authors. .
What are the warning signs?
The symptoms of croup are:
- fever,
- a cold,
- difficulty breathing (dyspnea),
- noisy breathing,
- an abnormal, hoarse and barking cough, similar to a seal cry very characteristic of this pathology.
- in some cases, the child may have difficulty swallowing, sweating, or the extremities and lips are a little blue
- if he refuses to lie down, it is because he has difficulty breathing in a position other than where he is half-sitting, he also warns.
The adults have few symptoms if they are infected. As for the little ones babiesthey will have “the nose taken and difficult to finish their bottle, but they will not tend to cough”, indicates the Women’s Journal.
Treatment for croup consists of the steroid dexamethasone, combined with adrenaline in the most serious cases. When children suffer from respiratory failure, oxygen therapy, or even intubation in extreme cases, can be considered, details Futura Sciences.
Croup can also be cured at home by keeping your child calm. But if the symptoms persist, in particular fatigue and a fever above 38 degrees for three days, the advice of a doctor is advised, specifies the site pourquoidocteur.fr.