COVID-19 Cases Surge In India: New Variants May Trigger Severe Long COVID Symptoms In Children, Experts Warn
With the detection of the new JN.1 variant, a new COVID wave has surged in several parts of the world, specifically in Parts of Southeast Asia where Countries like Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam are recording new COVID cases.
India this week crossed the 100 mark of COVID cases. In India, the surge has been brought by the two latent variants N.B.18 and LF17, which are considered to be more mutated than any other variants.
The new variants also have different symptoms from the ones that circulated in the past. The initial COVID-19 symptoms last for a few days, but the manifestations that appear post-recovery are extremely intense. The initial respiration-related symptoms go away in a few days, leaving some tremendous consequences and post-symptoms that can be extremely challenging to deal with.
One of the serious faces of this prolonged condition is long COVID, which makes the COVID-19 affect you for a longer period and you may take months to recover.
What's different about this health condition is that it is symptoms, more specifically a cluster of post-COVID symptoms that appear a few days after the initial symptoms.
The symptoms of this condition can last as long as three months and even longer in some cases. The symptoms often show inconsistency in their intensity that may become mild, escalating later suddenly, the vice versa is also true.
The symptoms of Long Covid are many, including problems with taste, smell, fog, nausea, shortness of breath, difficulty in sleeping patterns and rampant digestive issues.
Long Covid symptoms are not restricted to just adults but can even affect children under its wings. A recent study has been conducted through research that aimed to underline the symptoms of long-term COVID-19 in children. The research, published in the JAMA, has noted several symptoms of long COVID that become conspicuous in children. It must be noted that the symptoms can vary depending on the age factor or the age group in which the child falls or fits in.
In the research, the researchers at Mass General Brigham studied children from different age groups and evaluated 472 infants/toddlers and 539 preschool-aged children across the United States.
While observing the results, researchers stated that there's a high possibility of symptoms going unnoticed in children below the age of 2; hence, it is necessary for parents and caretakers to be vigilant and not ignore symptoms like crankiness, bad appetite, sleeping difficulties, cough and stuffy nose.
Whereas symptoms observed in preschool kids aged 3-5 years are dry cough along with morning fatigue and even lethargy.
Researchers indicated that the children who showed these symptoms had poor overall health, compromised quality of life and delays in personal development.
In a release the co-first author, Tanayott Thaweeth, who is also associate director of Biostatistics Research and Engagement at Massachusetts General Hospital
(MGH), and a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School highlighted the crucial importance of the study by saying," This study is important because it shows that long COVID symptoms in young children are different from those in older children and adults."
Who can be affected by Long COVID? People with prior health conditions, Wome,n and children
It is advised that people who develop long-term COVID symptoms should seek medical help at the earliest. The parents are caretakers of children below the age of 2 should remain more vigilant to avoid missing the symptoms and further escalating the condition.
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