Post-COVID syndrome in pediatric practice: data from literature and clinical case

Abstract

Background. An urgent and problematic issue in medicine today, in addition to the acute manifestation of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, are the consequences of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the so-called post-COVID syndrome (PCS). Currently, leading medical research institutions around the world are studying the causes, frequency and symptoms of PCS in both adults and children. Aim: to review the literature on the incidence and manifestations of post-COVID syndrome in children in order to draw the attention of medical professionals to the problem of post-COVID syndrome and its symptoms from various body systems. Materials and ­methods. The literature search was conducted in the PubMed and Google Scholar databases using the following keywords: “SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19” and “post-COVID”, “long COVID”, “diabetes mellitus” and “in children”. Ukrainian literature search was conducted in the Google Scholar database using the following keywords: “SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19” and “post-COVID”, “diabetes mellitus” and “in children”. The authors of the article reviewed the titles and abstracts of the found articles to select relevant publications. ­Results. The article provides data from the literature on PCS in children: definition of post-COVID syndrome in children, incidence, possible causes, pathogenesis and risk factors for the development of PCS. Signs of somatic, psychological and endocrinological manifestations of PCS are also given. The greatest attention is paid to the onset of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) in children after suffering ­COVID-19. It is noted that the frequency of T1DM in the pediatric population in the post-COVID period has almost doubled, to 0.043 versus 0.025 %. Global rate of new cases of T1DM in children in 2020 grew to 32.39 per 100,000 children compared to 19.73 per 100,000 children in 2019. Probable causes of diabetes after ­COVID-19 are direct cytolysis of pancreatic β-cells affected by the virus, and autoimmune reaction. A clinical case of diabetes mellitus in a young child as a possible manifestation of the PCS is provided. Conclusions. 1. The problem of PCS with various clinical manifestations in children is relevant and quite common. 2. PCS can deve­lop not only in children with acute manifestations of COVID-19, but also in children with asymptomatic course. 3. Along with the most frequent somatic and psychological manifestations of COVID-19 in children, endocrinopathy may occur, such as diabetes mellitus.

Keywords

• review
• post-covid syndrome
• children
• diabetes