New COVID-19 Symptom In Kids Unique To Omicron Variant Discovered

The highly transmissible Omicron COVID-19 variant is causing new symptoms in children, according to doctors.

More children infected with COVID-19 are now presenting with croup, which is a symptom commonly associated with parainfluenza respiratory viruses. Croup happens when the upper airways, including the voice box, the windpipe and the bronchial tubes become inflamed.

This inflammation then causes a child to have a loud cough that some say sounds similar to that of a barking seal. As the airway continues to swell and breathing gets harder, children make a high-pitched noise or squeaking sound when inhaling.

In more severe cases of croup, a child may appear pale or have a bluish color around the mouth due to lack of oxygen. The symptoms are often worse at night or when a child is crying, according to Kids Health.

Croup was not previously associated with the Omicron variant and COVID-19. However, a preprint study published in the medical journal medRxiv found that a total of 401 children were diagnosed with croup during the surge of Delta cases and 107 during the Omicron wave. However, 48.2% of patients with croup were much more likely to test positive for COVID-19 during Omicron.

"Omicron has proven itself to be an upper respiratory illness and an illness in the upper airway rather than the lower airways in the lungs and so, therefore, people are sort of blowing it off as a just a cold virus and no big deal. But I think what we're seeing is that of the upper respiratory sort of infections, viral infections, croup is among the most severe and puts children in the ICU regularly," Dr. Indi Trehan, attending physician in infectious disease and virology and emergency medicine at Seattle Children's and co-author of the study told CNN.

Another preliminary study found that 2.4% of children aged 13 and younger who were hospitalized with the Omicron variant in South Africa also received a croup diagnosis.

The studies come as the United States have reported a total of 12,042,870 COVID-19 cases in children as of Feb. 3. Of the total cases, 631,822 infections were reported between Jan. 27 to Feb. 3 alone. Children represent 18.9% of the total number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S., according to a joint report from The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.