COVID-19 neuro complications, long-term symptoms in kids

In a large, multicenter study published today in Pediatrics, a team led by Vanderbilt University researchers followed 15,137 COVID-19 patients aged 2 months to 17 years released from 52 US children's hospitals participating in the Pediatric Health Information System database from March 2020 to March 2022. Of the 15,137 patients, 82.1% had a primary COVID-19 diagnosis, and 17.9% had a secondary diagnosis of COVID-19 and a related complication. A total of 37.1% of children had a complex chronic condition (CCC), and 9.8% had at least one previously diagnosed neurologic CCC. Seven percent of patients developed a neurologic complication, the most common of which were fever-triggered seizures (3.9%), non–fever-related seizures (2.3%), and encephalopathy (brain damage or disease) (2.2%).