COVID-19 left serious consequences for children. There are doctors who say that the number of pneumonias in children is increasing, especially those post-covid, but also other extremely severe conditions that can endanger children’s lives. Some even require dialysis and treatment only in university centers.
COVID had devastating effects on children PHOTO Adevărul
It is known that infection with the Sars COV 2 virus left long-term sequelae, some of which were discovered some time after the disease was effectively treated. Numerous studies have already been done on the topic of the sequelae left by COVID, including in children. Some of these have also been observed in current practice by doctors. Some post-COVID sequelae are very severe and may endanger the child’s life, requiring immediate intervention, usually only in university centers. Pediatrician Geanina Georgiana Hamza, from the “Mavromati” County Hospital in Botoșani, says that the number of children with post-covid sequelae has increased considerably.
A lot of lumbar pneumonia and respiratory sequelae
It is known that the infection with Sars-Cov 2 is taken by air, i.e. through the respiratory tract. In some cases, the viral evolution was asymptomatic or with very mild symptoms, easily overlooked. In other cases, infection manifests itself in respiratory complications, from viruses to pneumonia. In many cases, COVID-19 has left sequelae, including among children, the most frequent being pulmonary ones.
These set in post-COVID and appeared even in those for whom it was only an asymptomatic disease or in the form of a mild virosis. The consequences result in severe pneumonia and traces left on the child’s lungs, in the form of opacities. “In the last year the share of lobar pneumonias was huge, compared to the past years, when a lobar pneumonia appeared once every six months, only one case. Now, almost all children have opacities and they are certainly in the framework of a virosis that is not properly treated or ignored, otherwise asymptomatic. This can be a respiratory side effect”says the doctor Geanina Georgiana Hamza.
Very serious, life-threatening conditions
In addition to these respiratory sequelae, doctors say that in the last two years they have encountered severe post-covid conditions, such as hemolytic and uremic syndrome. They are conditions that occur following the premature destruction of red blood cells and are characterized by acute renal failure, anemia, with a severe decrease in the number of platelets, essential in blood clotting.
“Most cases of hemolytic and uremic syndrome in the last two years were post-covid. It was the only cause discovered for that condition. They can be very serious. They are death threats”states the doctor Geanina Hamza. In addition, the symptoms are so severe and the damage to the child so serious that dialysis and treatment in specialized university centers are needed. “Dialysis must be started as quickly as possible, that’s basically what it boils down to. But we have the support of the university center from Iași”concludes the doctor from Botošan.
International specialists say that there are quite a few cases of hemolytic and uremic syndrome, atypical, as a result of passing through COVID-19. “This atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome is a disease characterized by a triad, hemolytic microangiopathic anemia, thrombocytopenia, and AKI”show the specialists Muhammad Shan Ul Abedin, Emma Galarza and Samavia Munir, in the paper “COVID-19 Associated Atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome”.
