Infection with the Omicron form of SARS-CoV-2 is associated with a common respiratory illness in young children called laryngitis or croup. It is an infection associated with the respiratory tract, which obstructs breathing and in which there is a specific type of dry cough.
The study, recently published in the journal Pediatrics, looked at 75 children who came to the Boston Children’s Hospital emergency department with croup and COVID-19 from March 1, 2020 to January 15, 2022. The researchers said some cases were severe enough to require hospitalization and that children were given doses higher than those given to treat croup caused by other viruses. Of these, 80 percent of the cases occurred during the outbreak of the Omicron form of the corona virus. “The picture is very clear that when there are more cases of Omicron, then only then the number of patients with croup starts increasing,” said Ryan Brewster of Boston Children’s Hospital and Boston Medical Center, first author of the study. When cold and other infections cause swelling around the voice box, windpipe and respiratory tract. In severe cases, it can cause difficulty in breathing.
Prior COVID-19 studies on animals suggest that the Omicron form causes more upper airway obstruction than other forms. Brewster said that this may have been the reason why the sudden cases of croup began to appear while Omicron’s cases increased. According to the study, most of the children suffering from COVID-19 and croup were up to two years of age and 72 percent were boys. Researchers said that although no children died, nine out of 75 had to be admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).