MUST READ! COVID-19 Alerts: Children Are At High Risk For Critical Complications And Death From COVID-19
Source: COVID-19 Alerts May 12, 2020 4 years, 2 months, 2 weeks, 1 day, 7 hours, 47 minutes ago
COVID-19 Alerts: According to a new study lead by the COVID-19 PICU Collaborative Group involving doctors and medical researchers from a number of children hospitals across the US , children, teens and young adults are at greater risk for severe complications from COVID-19 than previously thought and those with underlying health conditions are at even greater risk
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The research, published in
JAMA Pediatrics, is the first to describe the characteristics of seriously ill pediatric COVID-19 patients in North America.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2766037
Study coauthor Dr Lawrence C. Kleinman, Professor and vice chair for academic development and Chief of the Department of Pediatrics' Division of Population Health, Quality and Implementation Science at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School told Thailand Medical News, "The idea that COVID-19 is sparing of young people is just false. While children are more likely to get very sick if they have other chronic conditions, including obesity, it is important to note that children without chronic illness are also at risk. Parents need to continue to take the virus seriously."
The clinical study followed 48 children and young adults, from newborns to 21 years old who were admitted to pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) in the United States and Canada for COVID-19 in March and April. More than 80 percent had chronic underlying conditions, such as immune suppression, obesity, diabetes, seizures or chronic lung disease. Of those, 40 percent depended on technological support due to developmental delays or genetic anomalies.
It was observed that more than 20 percent experienced failure of two or more organ systems due to COVID-19, and nearly 40 percent required a breathing tube and ventilator.
Also at the end of the follow-up period, nearly 33 percent of the children were still hospitalized due to COVID-19, with three still requiring ventilator support and one on life support. Two of the children admitted during the three-week study period died.
Dr Hariprem Rajasekhar, a pediatric intensivist involved in conducting the study at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School's Department of Pediatrics added, "This study provides a baseline understanding of the early disease burden of COVID-19 in pediatric patients. The findings confirm that this emerging disease was already widespread in March and that it is not universally benign among children."
The medical researchers said they were "cautiously encouraged" by hospital outcomes for the children studied, citing the 4.2 percent mortality rate for PICU patients compared with published mortality rates of up to 62 percent among adults admitted to ICUs, as well as lower incidences of respiratory failure.
Dr Kleinman noted that doctors in the New York metropolitan area are seeing what appears to be a new COVID-related syndrome in children.
He added, "Although our data collection for this study has ended, we continue to develop collaborations with colleagues in our region and across th
e country to try to understand these more severe complications such as heart failure and the Kawasaki disease-like condition termed pediatric multi-system inflammatory syndrome .”
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/breaking-news-covid-19-warning-more-children-in-america-being-inflicted-with-deadly-mysterious-illness-linked-to-covid-19
Only in the last 7 days, 3 children died and 73 others seriously ill just in New York alone as a result of this new emerging pediatric multi-system inflammatory syndrome.
Medical experts across America are reporting more such cases involving children across the country. Some virologists are saying that perhaps new mutated strains of the SARS-CoV-2 are responsible for this new deadly clinical condition in children.
Parents are being warned to exercise more caution and to take extra preventive measures and to immediately take their children to the hospital should they exhibit any symptoms.
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