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Convulsions in children with COVID‐19 during the Omicron wave
Author(s) -
Ludvigsson Jonas F.
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
acta paediatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/apa.16276
Subject(s) - medicine , convulsion , pediatrics , febrile convulsions , covid-19 , epilepsy , respiratory tract infections , upper respiratory tract infection , respiratory system , psychiatry , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty)
Abstract Aim Most children with COVID‐19 have mild symptoms, but data on the Omicron variant are rare. This paper describes unexpected cases with convulsions during 1 week in January 2022. Methods Four children with COVID‐19 were admitted with convulsions to the paediatric department in Örebro, Sweden, when Omicron accounted for more than 98% of the country's COVID‐19 cases. Three children tested positive for the virus, and one had clinical COVID‐19. I was able to contact the parents of three boys, who gave consent for these case studies. Results Two boys aged 3 and 21 months tested positive for the virus and a 14‐year‐old boy tested negative, but had a cold and family members who had tested positive. The teenager had a history of urinary tract infections, but the younger boys had no earlier comorbidities. None had a history of epilepsy or febrile convulsions. The younger children had a fever and the teenager had upper respiratory symptoms. The 3‐month‐old child had repeated convulsions for several hours, the 21‐month‐old had continuous convulsions for 15–20 min, and the teenager had a convulsion for 30–60 s, followed by uncharacteristic aggression. Conclusion Convulsions may be a sign of the Omicron variant in children with COVID‐19.