Heart failure in children: Another rare COVID-19 complication. Here’s what to look for. – USA TODAY

How does coronavirus enter the body, and why does it become fatal for some compared to just a cough or fever for others? USA TODAY

Adam Millar was 18when he started to experience a cold that wouldn't go away.

It was the middle of hockey season, so he brushed his symptoms off. After what seemed like twoor three months of a cough and fatigue, his cold progressed."I didn't even have the energy to stand to brush my teeth," he told USA TODAY.

Millar's heart was in failure, he later found out. Heart failureoften caused by myocarditis,an inflammation of the heart muscle is a rare condition for teens and young adults. It's more common in older people, often the result of heart function declining over a period of years.

Yet,since the beginning of the pandemic, a verysmall subset of young people infected with COVID-19 have developedheart failure.

Yes, kids can get COVID-19: More than 1 million have been infected in U.S. since the pandemic's start, report says

This summer, doctors in New York reported a2-month-old boy diagnosed with COVID-19 later suffered from heart failure,signaling yet another COVID-19 complication for kids.

The boy had been choking, later turning blue, despite no prior fever, coughor other sign of infection, doctors reported in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

That infant representsthe youngest-known case of myocarditis caused by COVID-19, Dr. Madhu Sharma told MedPage Today. Sharma is a doctor at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore at New York Cityand contributed to the case report.

But that isn't the first case of myocarditis in young people previously infected with COVID-19.

Twenty-six athletes from Ohio State University with confirmed COVID-19 who were mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic underwent heart testing. Nearly 50%showed heart abnormalities, and15% met the criteria for myocarditis, according to a study from OSU in September.

The roots of heart failure caused by COVID-19 stem from multisysteminflammatory syndrome, or MIS-C, says Dr. Gary Stapleton, a pediatric interventional cardiologist at Texas Children's Hospital. MIS-Cmade headlines in 2020 when a small number of children with COVID-19 started showing inflammation in their heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyesor gastrointestinal organs.The condition generally responds well to treatment.

Though sometimes heart inflammation in these cases is mild, "it can be quite severe where they require ICU admission and a lot of medications and support," Stapleton said.

Most kids with COVID-19 don't develop the inflammatory condition. When they do, they tend toget itabout four to six weeks after their initial infection. Since the pandemic began, there have been about1,200cases of MIS-C in the U.S. and 20 deaths, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

"We don't really have any way to predict who's gonna get really sickand who isn't," Stapleton said. Still, if not recognized and treated, MIS-C can lead to significant complications.

The number one thing parents can pay attention to? Any changes or disruptions in their child's normal routine, Stapleton said.

If teens have fatigue, cardiopulmonary issues such as difficulty breathing, or gastrointestinal illness, Stapleton recommends checking in with their doctor.

Pandemic parenting: Experts say this is what children need to survive the COVID-19 era

MIS-C and heart failure are not a death sentence for young people. Treatment can includea variety of medical and mechanical interventions. In June, the Food andDrug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for the Impella device, the world's smallest heart pump.

Still, experiencing heart failure can be a harrowing experience.

Millar, now 21, is a first-year student at Northeastern University. He has since recovered from his conditionbut said it was a "very rude awakening."

"Iwas an athlete running five-minute miles and then I was bedridden, lost70 pounds, and was told that my life was changed forever," Millar said. "We just have to start listening to our bodies."

Autoplay

Show Thumbnails

Show Captions

Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/01/01/covid-symptoms-complications-kids-heart-failure/3924481001/

Read the rest here:
Heart failure in children: Another rare COVID-19 complication. Here's what to look for. - USA TODAY