Fourth wave scare! Omicron can cause croup, cardiac arrest in kids, know details here

Omicron variant of coronavirus is believed to cause more vulnerable and upper respiratory infections in children, which if severe can lead to heart problems and even cardiac arrest, found a study.

Representational image

New Delhi: Omicron variant of coronavirus, which is highly responsible for the ongoing surge in cases across the world, including China, is believed to cause more vulnerable and upper respiratory infections in children, which if severe can lead to heart problems and even cardiac arrest, found a study.

This upper airway infection is particularly called croup and has the potential to cause severe damage in kids.

A team of researchers from the Universities of Colorado and Northwestern in the US examined 18,849 children hospitalised with SARS-CoV-2.

Their results published in the JAMA Pediatrics showed that upper airways infection increased during the Omicron surge. More than one-fifth of children hospitalised with SARS-CoV-2 and upper airways infection in the US developed severe disease.

What is Croup?

Croup is a type of respiratory illness, known medically as laryngotracheitis, in babies and young children. It is characterised by barking cough and noisy breathing. In severe cases, it can dangerously constrict breathing.

About 384 examined in the study had upper airway infections. Severe disease, defined as requiring invasive ventilation, vasopressors, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or death, occurred in 81 children.

"Children with severe upper airway infection are at risk of cardiac arrest from rapid-onset upper airway obstruction. They may require therapies typically provided in intensive care units, including frequent administration of nebulized racemic epinephrine, helium-oxygen mixtures, and intubation," said the researchers including Blake Martin, from the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado`s School of Medicine.

"While the rate of SARS-CoV-2 paediatric upper airway infection is not overwhelmingly high, understanding this new clinical phenotype and the potential for acute upper airway obstruction may help guide therapeutic decision-making," they added.

After being detected in African countries in November last year, Omicron soon gained presence worldwide and became the dominant strain, replacing Delta. It became dominant in the US the week ending December 25.

Omicron and its variants

Omicron, which is a variant of coronavirus is known to cause lower severity disease than the Delta (B.1.617.2) variant and is said to affect the upper respiratory tract.

The team explained that SARS-CoV-2 can cause severe paediatric disease, including acute Covid-19 and multisystem inflammatory syndrome. Published reports associating SARS-CoV-2 with upper airway infection, such as laryngotracheobronchitis (croup), have been limited to small case series.

The Omicron variant caused the third wave of Covid-19 in India in early January.

(With agency inputs)