{"id":3421,"date":"2022-01-24T16:05:15","date_gmt":"2022-01-24T16:05:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/?p=3421"},"modified":"2022-01-24T16:05:15","modified_gmt":"2022-01-24T16:05:15","slug":"covid-virus-linked-with-headaches-altered-mental-status-in-hospitalized-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/?p=3421","title":{"rendered":"COVID virus linked with headaches, altered mental status in hospitalized kids"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Authors: UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Peer-Reviewed Publication<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PITTSBURGH, Jan. 21, 2022 \u2013 Of hospitalized children who tested or were presumed positive for SARS-CoV-2, 44% developed neurological symptoms, and these kids were more likely to require intensive care than their peers who didn\u2019t experience such symptoms, according to a new study led by a pediatrician-scientist at UPMC<\/a> and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most common neurologic symptoms were headache and altered mental status, known as acute encephalopathy. Published in Pediatric Neurology<\/a><\/em>, these preliminary findings are the first insights from the pediatric arm of GCS-NeuroCOVID<\/a>, an international, multi-center consortium aiming to understand how COVID-19 affects the brain and nervous system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe SARS-CoV-2 virus can affect pediatric patients in different ways: It can cause acute disease, where symptomatic illness comes on soon after infection, or children may develop an inflammatory condition called MIS-C weeks after clearing the virus,\u201d said lead author Ericka Fink, M.D., pediatric intensivist at UPMC Children\u2019s Hospital of Pittsburgh<\/a>, and associate professor of critical care medicine and pediatrics at Pitt. \u201cOne of the consortium\u2019s big questions was whether neurological manifestations are similar or different in pediatric patients, depending on which of these two conditions they have.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To answer this question, the researchers recruited 30 pediatric critical care centers around the world. Of 1,493 hospitalized children, 1,278, or 86%, were diagnosed with acute SARS-CoV-2; 215 children, or 14%, were diagnosed with MIS-C, or multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children<\/a>, which typically appears several weeks after clearing the virus and is characterized by fever, inflammation and organ dysfunction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most common neurologic manifestations linked with acute COVID-19 were headache, acute encephalopathy and seizures, while youths with MIS-C most often had headache, acute encephalopathy and dizziness. Rarer symptoms of both conditions included loss of smell, vision impairment, stroke and psychosis.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThankfully, mortality rates in children are low for both acute SARS-CoV-2 and MIS-C,\u201d said Fink. \u201cBut this study shows that the frequency of neurological manifestations is high\u2014and it may actually be higher than what we found because these symptoms are not always documented in the medical record or assessable. For example, we can\u2019t know if a baby is having a headache.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The analysis showed that neurological manifestations were more common in kids with MIS-C compared to those with acute SARS-CoV-2, and children with MIS-C were more likely than those with acute illness to have two or more neurologic manifestations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Fink, the team recently launched a follow up study to determine whether acute SARS-CoV-2 and MIS-C\u2014with or without neurologic manifestations\u2014have lasting effects on children\u2019s health and quality of life after discharge from hospital.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnother long-term goal of this study is to build a database that tracks neurological manifestations over time\u2014not just for SARS-CoV-2, but for other types of infections as well,\u201d she added. \u201cSome countries have excellent databases that allow them to easily track and compare children who are hospitalized, but we don\u2019t have such a resource in the U.S.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This study was partly funded by the Neurocritical Care Society Investing in Clinical Neurocritical Care Research<\/a> (INCLINE) grant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other researchers who contributed to the study include Courtney L. Robertson, M.D., Johns Hopkins Children\u2019s Center<\/a>; Mark S. Wainwright, M.D., Ph.D., University of Washington<\/a> and Seattle Children\u2019s Hospital<\/a>; Juan D. Roa, M.D., Universidad Nacional de Colombia<\/a> and Fundaci\u00f3n Universitaria de Ciencias de la Salud<\/a>; Michelle E. Schober, M.D., University of Utah<\/a>, and other GCS-NeuroCOVID Pediatrics investigators who are listed in the paper. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To read this release online or share it, visit http:\/\/www.upmc.com\/media\/news\/012122-Fink-COVID-Children<\/a>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

JOURNAL<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Pediatric Neurology<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DOI<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

10.1016\/j.pediatrneurol.2021.12.010 <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

METHOD OF RESEARCH<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Observational study<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

People<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ARTICLE TITLE<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Neurologic Manifestations in Hospitalized Children Diagnosed with Acute SARS-CoV-2 or MIS-C<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

21-Jan-2022<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Authors: UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Peer-Reviewed Publication PITTSBURGH, Jan. 21, 2022 \u2013 Of hospitalized children who tested or were presumed positive for SARS-CoV-2, 44% developed neurological symptoms, and these kids were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3422,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,670,674,58,59,113,203,823,221,222,289,290,866,311,874,894,425],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adolescence","category-age-related-outcome","category-altered-mental-state","category-brain","category-brain-fog","category-depression-mental-health","category-headache","category-headache-symptoms-covid-19","category-hospital-admissions","category-hospitalizations","category-long-haul-disease","category-long-term-effects","category-memory-deficit","category-mental-health","category-mis-c","category-neurologic-symptoms-covid-19","category-pediatric-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3421\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}