May 12: Children suffering from non-respiratory disease symptoms like diarrhea and fever, or those with a history of exposure to the novel coronavirus, should be suspected of having COVID-19, a new study says.
According to the research, published in the journal Frontiers in Pediatrics, gastrointestinal symptoms first suffered by some children hints at potential infection with SARS-CoV-2 through the digestive tract.
"This case series is the first report to describe the clinical features of COVID-19 with non-respiratory symptoms as the first manifestation in children," the scientists from Tongji Hospital in China wrote in the study.
They explained that the gastrointestinal symptoms could be arising since the type of receptors in lung cells targeted by the virus can also be found in the intestines.
Most children are only mildly affected by COVID-19, and the few severe cases often have underlying health issues, the researchers said.
"It is easy to miss its diagnosis in the early stage, when a child has non-respiratory symptoms, or suffers from another illness," said study co-author Wenbin Li, who works at the Department of Pediatrics, Tongji Hospital.
"Based on our experience of dealing with COVID-19, in regions where this virus is epidemic, children suffering from digestive tract symptoms, especially with fever and/or a history of exposure to this disease, should be suspected of being infected with this virus," Li said.
In the study, the scientists described the clinical features of children admitted to hospital with non-respiratory symptoms, who were subsequently diagnosed with pneumonia and COVID-19.
"These children were seeking medical advice in the emergency department for unrelated problems, for example, one had a kidney stone, another a head trauma," Li said.
The study noted that all the children had pneumonia, which was confirmed by chest X-ray scan before or soon after admission.
These children were then confirmed to have COVID-19.
While their COVID-19 symptoms were initially mild or relatively hidden before their hospital admission, four out of the five cases had digestive tract symptoms as the first manifestation of this disease, the researchers said.
Li hopes that doctors will use the findings to quickly diagnose and isolate patients with similar symptoms, which may aid early treatment and reduce transmission.
According to the researchers, the children's gastrointestinal symptoms, which have also been recorded in adult patients, could be an additional route of infection.
"The gastrointestinal symptoms experienced by these children may be related to the distribution of receptors and the transmission pathway associated with COVID-19 infection in humans," Li explained.
Since the virus infects people via the ACE2 receptor, which can be found in certain cells in the lungs as well as the intestines, COVID-19 might infect patients not only through the respiratory tract in the form of air droplets, but also through the digestive tract by contact or fecal-oral transmission, the study noted.
While COVID-19 tests can occasionally produce false positive readings, Li said all the five children assessed in the study were infected with the disease.
However, he cautioned that more research is needed to confirm their findings.
"We report five cases of COVID-19 in children showing non-respiratory symptoms as the first manifestation after admission to hospital. The incidence and clinical features of similar cases needs further study in more patients," he said.
Comments
First of all this hypocrite leaders of BJP are instigating violence in peaceful DK
Ayyo Shobha ....nimde sarkara iruvaga nimge madakaglilla ....hagantha helthidda V.S Acharya ne gotak andbittru ....RIP
anyways ...to ban anything . you must have the right reason which you people do not have ....and court is not that much weak that any one can do anything
viparyasa enandre ....Ashraf koleyadaga ildidda sittu sharath koleyadaga ummalisi horag bandbitthu
hahahaha shobakka, read the statement from our home minister of karnataka, that communal tension in DK is creation of bjp not police.
#stop vote bank politics#
Ban PFI ? Is it a solution? They are lakhs of PFI members in Karnataka alone leave alone India.
They will join or make a new group or name.
Provocative speech by RSS leaders, Gou BD lynchers , arms carrying terrorist camp organiser Sri ram sena . If the police and the political camps had taken care of them long time ago , our beautiful Mangalore would remain peaceful.
Lack of political will from Congress banning and barring hateful speech is the main cause. Don't let Karnataka turn into hinduvta laboratory.
Take care of RSS, PFI also will disappear.
Idondu bere jaati illa mata illa
Madam include Bajrang dal also in your letter and remember you represent s all community
Shoba aligning on pfi & kfd without any proof I am asking shoba you are leading this rss terrorist and its ruthless branches of bajrandal.vhp ect.. they killed Mahatma Gandhi. And now ur pm narendra modi when he was cm in Gujarat state he is leading to kill more than 2000 innocent Muslim's brutally and killed pregnant women's children's and raped elder, younger without any age limit at that time where you slipped ur eyes and ears are dumped. And all over India communal crisis and killed thousands of Muslim your godfather lk advanis rath yatra. And demolished Babri Masjid court accused most your senior leaders where are you that time and in the name cow so many Muslims killed brutally your tongue not uttered a single statement. we well know u & ur terrorist RSS organize this is not an enemy of Muslims its enemy for humanity. go enjoy with yeddi useless politics. chair heaters.
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