2024-01-17 08:10:00
From fever to headaches, coughs, loss of taste and smell, and brain fog… we might think we know the range of symptoms associated with Covid-19. But the surprise came 4 years after the virus appeared, in the case of a 15-year-old patient suffering from vocal cord paralysis.
Doctors and scientists at the Mass Eye and Ear Center have reported the first case of vocal cord paralysis following Covid-19 infection.
In detail, the 15-year-old patient with no medical history came to the emergency department at Massachusetts General Hospital suffering from shortness of breath 9 days after she was diagnosed with the virus.
Endoscopic examination revealed paralysis of the vocal cord resulting from an inability to move the two vocal cords in the larynx. The researchers concluded that the reason behind this paralysis is due to the effects of the Corona virus, according to what the website published Topsante.
The case was presented on December 19, 2023 in the scientific journal Pediatrics, which indicated that vocal cord paralysis could be a complication of the virus associated with the nervous system, in addition to the neurological complications recorded in children and adults.
Although infection with the Coronavirus no longer represents a health emergency today, the death toll recorded in December reached 10,000, according to what the World Health Organization announced. She added, “The virus is still stubborn, even if no one notices it.”
It has already been proven that Covid-19 can affect the nervous system and brain. The virus infiltrates through the brainstem via nerve pathways, according to estimates by the Secretary General of the German Neurological Society, Professor Peter Berlet. While a study conducted in China suggested that the brain was affected in a third of serious cases.
These neurological manifestations ranged from quite specific symptoms such as: loss of smell or taste, myopathy and stroke, all the way to other signs such as headache, altered consciousness, dizziness or seizures,” the researchers explained through the study.
Today, a health symptom that affects the brain is added, which is represented by paralysis of the vocal cords in the teenage patient.
“Given the frequency of this virus in children, this newly recognized potential complication should be considered in any child who experiences breathing, speaking, or swallowing symptoms after being diagnosed with the disease,” says first author Danielle Renee LaRue, M.D., otolaryngologist at Mass Eye and Ear. “Recently diagnosed with Covid-19. It is very important to report such cases because these symptoms usually lead us to a more common diagnosis, which is asthma.”
For 13 months, the girl had to undergo a tracheostomy to alleviate her breathing difficulties.
What particularly worries doctors is that the young woman is in good health and suffered from these types of symptoms. It has become clear that children can have long-term neurological effects as a result of Covid infection, and it is important for pediatricians to be widely aware of this so that they can treat them well and correctly.
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