New Delhi, April 12
While the risk of cardiovascular outcomes following SARS-CoV-2 infection has been reported in adults, a new study showed that children and adolescents are also likely to develop multiple cardiac signs and symptoms.
The evidence of heart disease post-Covid infection in children and adolescents is limited.
The study, led by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, revealed children and adolescents remained at risk of cardiovascular disease, including higher odds of high blood pressure and heart failure, between one to six months after Covid-19 infection.
The team analysed electronic health records (EHR) data from 19 children’s hospitals and health institutions in the US between March 2020 and September 2023.
The study involved 297,920 children and adolescents with Covid infection and 915,402 without infection -- all of them were followed up for at least six months.
The results showed that “children and adolescents with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection are at a statistically significant increased risk of various cardiovascular outcomes"
This includes "hypertension, ventricular arrhythmias, myocarditis, heart failure, cardiomyopathy, cardiac arrest, thromboembolism, chest pain, and palpitations, compared to uninfected controls,” said the researchers in the paper published in the journal Nature Communications.