As the Covid-19 outbreak picks up speed again after several weeks of decline, doctors in Boston are warning that infected very young children may develop croup. What is croup and how is it treated?
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Infection of very young children with the Omicron variant is linked to the appearance of a new complication: croup. Between March 2020 and January 2022, doctors at the Children’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts (USA), treated 75 children, mostly boys under the age of 2, for this condition. They observed that most cases (80%) occurred during the wave Omicron.
If no child followed by American doctors died of croup, the state of health of 12% of them justified hospitalization, almost half of them in intensive care.
” There was a very clear delineation between when Omicron became the dominant variant and when we started to see an increase in the number of patients with croup says Ryan Brewster, a Boston physician and first author of the study published in Pediatrics. One possible explanation is the “preference” of the Omicron variant for the upper respiratory tract.
Croup, a common complication of viral infections
Croup, or laryngo-tracheo-bronchitis, is a condition that usually appears after a viral infection, such as the common cold or in this case the Covid-19at the house of children 6 months to 6 years old. It is characterized by a swelling in the larynx which hinders the passage ofair. Wheezing, or stridor, and a “barking” cough are typical of croup. In the most severe cases, inflammation of the throat can lead to breathing difficulties. The Westley score is used to determine the gravity of the disease.
Treatment for croup consists of steroiddexamethasone, combined withadrenaline in the most worrying cases. When children suffer from respiratory failure, oxygen therapy, or even intubation in extreme cases, may be considered. the prognosis vital is generally good; with proper management and rest, the disease resolves within a few days. Young patients admitted to Boston Children’s Hospital stayed between 1 and 3 days maximum.
Moderate cases of croup can be treated at home. Boston doctors advise keeping children quiet and breathing in steam from a hot shower.
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