- The COVID-19 pandemic, unfortunately, continues to gain momentum. In recent weeks, a particularly tense situation has developed in Western Europe. Russia has crossed the 9 millionth threshold for the number of infected, deaths are more than 260 thousand, – reminded at the beginning of his speech, Deputy Director for Research of the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Medical Sciences Alexander Gorelov.
The expert took part in an online meeting of the RAS Scientific Council , dedicated to the problems and prospects of combating covid, and told the latest data on how the infection proceeds in children.
RATE OF INFECTION LIKE EXCESSIBLE
Now you can often hear that after the arrival of the Delta strain, children began to get sick more often and more severely. However, about the total number of cases of coronavirus in the younger generation, official statistics give less pessimistic data.
- In 2020, children accounted for 10.7% [of all SARS-CoV-2 infections in Russia], and at the moment – 10.5%, – said Dr. Gorelov. That is, as before, about every tenth coronavirus infected in our country is a child.
“Analyzing the data for the last two months, we see: yes, indeed, in Moscow, for example, there was a situation where more than a thousand infected children were registered in one day. Then their share in the total number of cases temporarily reached 11.3%. But now, according to the results from the beginning of the year, the figure of 10.5% is clearly confirmed, ”the doctor said.
Boys and girls get sick equally often. The same cannot be said about adults: according to statistics, 59% of women and 41% of men are infected with coronavirus in Russia, Gorelov said.
The maximum number of diseases among children falls on schoolchildren, both junior and senior classes. At the same time, preschoolers and younger children are increasingly involved in the epidemiological process. At the same time, in two-thirds of cases, one of the family members becomes the source of infection for them, the expert emphasized.
WHO GETS IN REANIMATION
Professor Gorelov confirmed that the more severe course of covid among the younger generation after the arrival of Delta is not a myth.
- The proportion of asymptomatic and asymptomatic cases of coronavirus in children is now negligible. A severe form of infection, requiring hospitalization in intensive care units, occurs at a variety of ages, the doctor said. – Of particular concern are babies under one year old, as well as children with underlying diseases (that is, with concomitant chronic diseases, including obesity. – Ed.) And with congenital pathologies. Their disease is as difficult as possible.
The situation with the spread of postcoid syndrome has also become clearer. In Sweden, a study was conducted, during which they analyzed the medical history of more than 93 thousand children infected with the coronavirus. A third of them developed post-coccygeal syndrome with various manifestations. It can be problems with memory, concentration (“brain fog”), and shortness of breath, and increased fatigue, and digestive problems, and other health problems.
FROM INTESTINAL INFLUENZA TO APPENDICITIS: THE MOST COMMON COVID-19 MASKS
By no means always, covid in children is manifested by a cough, high fever and affects the lungs, causing pneumonia. More and more data is accumulating about other forms of COVID-19. They have already become so widespread that there is a need for official recognition of such complexes of symptoms as separate varieties of coronavirus infection, noted Dr. Gorelov.
Most often, there are four “masks” when covid mimics other diseases.
- Intestinal flu.
In fact, we are talking about lesions of the gastrointestinal tract with diarrheal syndrome. Symptoms other than a bowel disorder may include:
- moderate fever,
- muscle pain,
- fatigue,
- headache,
- nausea and vomiting.
The duration of the diarrheal syndrome is about 4 days.
- If in 2020, in 2% of children, covid was expressed exclusively in the defeat of the gastrointestinal tract, then in 2021 this figure increased to 20%. That is, every fifth child has an isolated lesion of the gastrointestinal tract, says Alexander Gorelov. According to him, there is an explanation for this: in children, the number of receptors for which the coronavirus “clings” to enter the cell is several orders of magnitude higher in the gastric mucosa than in the lungs.
- Meningoencephalitis.
These are diseases associated with inflammation of the membranes and substances of the brain. Symptoms may include:
- heat,
- severe chills,
- intense throbbing headache,
- photophobia and fear of sound,
- dizziness,
- nausea and vomiting, which are clearly not associated with food intake.
In such cases, the coronavirus affects the central nervous system of the child. The causative agent of covid is secreted from the cerebrospinal fluid, the professor said.
- Systemic vasculitis.
This is an inflammation of the walls of blood vessels – arteries, capillaries, veins.
“In such situations, a coronavirus infection in children can proceed almost imperceptibly, and then so-called“ covid fingers ”suddenly appear,” the doctor explains.
This is the name for redness and swelling of the tips of the fingers and toes with the appearance of bubbles and pustules. Outwardly, this often resembles a picture of frostbite.
- Appendicitis.
In the world medical literature, there are a growing number of reports that one of the complications of covid, hyperinflammatory syndrome, mimics appendicitis in children. Because of this, unreasonable surgical interventions occur, said Dr. Gorelov.
TO THIS TOPIC
What about vaccinations?
In the USA, Canada, Brazil, Norway, the Netherlands, Israel, the vaccine for children is allowed from the age of 12, the expert said. In Slovakia – from 5 years old, in China – from 3 years old, in Cuba – from 2 years old.
The first two phases of clinical trials of Sputnik M for adolescents have been completed in Russia. “We are awaiting the decision of the regulatory authorities to start using the vaccine in adolescents from the age of 14,” said Alexander Gorelov.
