Omicron symptoms seen in kids: Everything you need to know
Premium- As far as Omicron is concerned, a recent report suggested that it may lead to a harsh, barking cough called croup in children under the age of 5 years
Amid a spike in Omicron-related Covid-19 cases across the country, parents are worried about the impact of the highly contagious variant in children.
Considering kids below 15 are not yet eligible for vaccination against Covid-19, the fear of them being at risk of the new strain is growing with each passing day.
While the kids have shown a better and more robust immune response to the SARs-COV-2 virus, they're still very much prone to infection and can develop mild symptoms.
Now, with the emergence of Omicron, health officials are on high alert and have cautioned everyone to take all necessary precautions. While there is little to no data to confirm if Omicron affects kids more severely, pediatric doctors in America have confirmed the sudden spike in the number of coronavirus infections among kids.
Symptoms that children can experience
Similar to adults and older people, kids can also experience various symptoms of the virus. Some of them are highly common and prevalent in all age groups.
While fever, fatigue, cough and loss of sense of smell and taste are some of the common symptoms of SARs-COV-2 infection in children, a condition known as multisystem inflammatory syndrome has often been reported in kids.
Those children who develop MIS-C condition have come up with severe inflammation in various organs of the body, including heart, lungs, blood vessels, kidneys, digestive system, brain, skin or eyes.
As far as Omicron is concerned, a recent report suggested that it may lead to a harsh, barking cough called croup in children under the age of 5 years.
Doctors say that kids who have contract the new variant may develop infection in the upper respiratory tract, leading to croup.
Kids' hospitalisations hit record in US
In the US, hospitalisations of kids under the age of 5 years infected with coronavirus soared in recent weeks to their highest level since the pandemic began, according to government data earlier released on the only age group not yet eligible for the vaccine.
A similar trend was reported from South Africa during the peak of the Omicron disease wave in the country.
Although dubbed to cause a ‘milder’ illness than the Delta variant, Omicron has been associated with increased breakthrough infections and more transmissibility, in general.
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