Children coming to hospitals in Delhi with post-Covid symptoms like headaches, brain fogging: Doctors

New Delhi, July 13

Not only adults but also children who have battled Covid are coming to hospitals in the city with post-coronavirus symptoms like gastric issues, headaches, brain fogging, shortness of breath, doctors at private hospitals here said.

Apart from complaints of MISC (multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children), experts are also seeing children, who had mild Covid, coming to them with delayed recovery.

Dr Rahul Nagpal, Director, Pediatrics, Fortis Hospital Vasant Kunj said, “Fortunately, children did not have very severe Covid. We got a handful of patients who had congenital heart disease, some kidney disorders, severe asthma or obesity who required hospitalisation.”

“Post-Covid we are seeing multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. It happens in one to two per cent of cases, but that is also a huge number. With proper drugs and identification, it can be cured.

Then there are lots of patients with diarrhoea, fatigue, body ache, digestive issues,” he said.

The senior doctor said that some of the adolescents are coming with headaches, which might be the start of migraine in them. But it needs to be studied more. Since it has happened after Covid, it is felt that it is because of the infection, but it needs to be investigated.

Dr Shuchin Bajaj, Founder-Director, Ujala Cygnus Group of Hospitals, said that children are facing the issue of brain fogging and are unable to remember what they studied.

“They do not have much energy left, are stressed, anxious. Parents might confuse brain fogging with children trying to make excuses to not study or attend online classes, but these are real symptoms,” he said.

Bajaj also said that in children who had severe Covid, symptoms like shortness of breath, developing severe heart rate even while going to toilet, severe headaches were found.

“These symptoms were found to be persisting for three to four months,” he added.

Dr Nameet Jerath, Senior Consultant, Pediatric Intensive Care, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi, said most children have had mild Covid, but stressed that even those who were asymptomatic are having prolonged low grade fevers, weakness, headache even after recovery.

Dr Shyam Kukreja, Director and Head of Department of Pediatrics and Infectious Disease Specialist, Max Hospital, said children are also facing psychological issues because of no social interaction, staying at home and due to fear of Covid.

“I have seen children scared to come to hospitals because they have seen Covid in their families or have lost their grandparents to the virus. They are unduly concerned or are facing nervous breakdown,” he said.

Kukreja added that they have seen around 50 cases of MISC after the second Covid wave. — PTI