Headache, cough, loss of taste and smell and brain fog from fever… But 4 years after the virus appeared, there was a surprise in the case of a 15-year-old patient with vocal cord paralysis.
Doctors and scientists at the Mass Eye and Ear Center have reported the first case of laryngeal paralysis following a Covid-19 infection.
In detail, a 15-year-old patient with no medical history presented to the emergency department at Massachusetts General Hospital with dyspnea 9 days after being diagnosed with the virus.
In addition to the neurological complications reported in children and adults, vocal cord paralysis may be a complication of a virus associated with the nervous system, according to a Dec. 19, 2023, case in the journal Pediatrics.
Although the coronavirus infection does not represent a health emergency today, the World Health Organization announced that the number of deaths recorded in December reached 10,000. “The virus is still stubborn even if nobody notices,” he added.
Covid-19 has already been shown to affect the nervous system and brain. According to Prof. Peter Perlet, Secretary General of the German Neurological Association, the virus penetrates the brainstem through nerve pathways. In a study conducted in China, one-third of severe cases reported brain damage.
These neurological manifestations range from very specific symptoms: loss of smell or taste, myopathy and lead to other symptoms such as paralysis, headache, altered sensation, dizziness or convulsions,” the researchers explained in the study.
Today, a health symptom affecting the brain has been added, represented by the paralysis of the vocal cords in a teenage patient.
“Given the frequency of this virus in children, any child who experiences breathing, speaking, or swallowing symptoms after diagnosis should consider this newly recognized potential complication,” says first author Danielle Renee LaRue, MD, director of Otolaryngology Eye and Ear at Mass., recently covid. Infected with 19. It is very important to report such cases These symptoms Guide us Generally The most common diagnosis is asthma.
At 13 months, the girl had to have a tracheostomy to ease her breathing problems.
What particularly worries doctors is that the young woman is in good health and suffers from these types of symptoms. It is clear that children can suffer long-term neurological effects as a result of Covid infection, and it is important that pediatricians are widely aware of this so that they can treat it well and correctly.
