Common symptoms of post-Covid-19 in children

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Minh Dien, Director of the National Children’s Hospital (Hanoi) said after Covid-19 is a term for a group of long-lasting symptoms that a child experiences within 3 months after contracting Covid-19 and that affects the child’s daily activities. These symptoms may persist from the initial illness or appear after recovery and are not caused by other causes.

Up to now, there are no factors that can help predict with certainty that children will be post-Covid-19 after acute infection. In addition, there are no exact statistics on the post-Covid-19 incidence in children, this figure in adults is about 10 to 20%.

A child with a mild illness may also show signs of post-Covid-19 infection. However, if a child has a critical acute case of Covid-19 requiring mechanical ventilation or care in an intensive care unit, after recovering from the illness, he or she will be prone to symptoms such as fatigue, muscle weakness, etc. common symptoms in people who have to be treated in resuscitation.

According to Prof. Dien, post-Covid-19 can affect almost every organ in the body. However, in children and adolescents most often show symptoms on the nervous system such as fatigue, headache, insomnia, taste and smell disturbances, etc. Children may also have other symptoms. emotional disturbances, poor concentration, memory loss, learning difficulties.

Other common respiratory symptoms are prolonged cough, sore throat, shortness of breath… In addition, children may have joint pain, muscle pain, chest heaviness, nervous palpitations.

Post-infection multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) SARS-CoV-2 Although rare, it is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition. The disease usually occurs after being infected with Covid-19 about 2 – 6 weeks with common symptoms such as: continuous high fever, digestive disorders, skin rash, red lips and tongue, etc. The disease often causes damage to multiple organs such as: heart, blood vessels, and other organs rapidly progressing to hospitalisation.

Experts recommend that when parents see that their child has symptoms as described above or shows any signs or symptoms that the child did not have before having Covid-19, they should take the child to a medical facility. medican. In case the child is hospitalized during an acute episode of Covid-19, the child should be re-examined according to the appointment of a medical facility (if any).

“In addition, even though the child does not have any suspicious symptoms of post-Covid-19 infection, parents can take the child to see a pediatrician at about 4-12 weeks after the infection to be checked and consulted about other conditions. problem health of children,” said Assoc.

The expert also emphasized that currently, no clear cause of post-Covid-19 has been found, so there are no measures to help prevent the appearance of post-Covid-19. The only method is to prevent children from getting sick by taking appropriate preventive measures and getting the Covid-19 vaccine when indicated.