Cardiovascular complications of COVID-19

According to Dr. Paul Fedorowski, one of the world’s leading experts on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), somewhere between 1% and 10%, of those who contract the virus will develop cardiovascular complications, including myocarditis, peri-carditis, and even blood clotting in the arteries. These heart problems can lead to sudden death.

The difficulty in treating these cases is because the cardiovascular impact can be hard to pinpoint at first. “We are talking here about very small blood clogs in very small arteries — it is not so easy to detect; however, some patients may report having bluish hands or feet out of nowhere, just getting infected a few days before,” says Dr. Fedorowski. ”And this might be a sign that there is a very small, tiny clot in the peripheral blood vessels.”

Long COVID in kids

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected everyone differently. Some people are experiencing mild symptoms while others are severely ill. Children seem to be particularly vulnerable to severe illness, especially among young children. In fact, children under five make up about half of all cases in the United States.

In addition to being more susceptible to developing serious complications, children with COVID-19 often experience long-lasting symptoms. More research needs to be done to understand why some children develop long-term health problems following COVID-19 infections. However, it appears that pediatricians should keep an eye out for prolonged symptoms in children who contract the virus.

Most common symptoms in children

The World Health Organization (WHO) says that children are less likely to develop severe cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). But what about those under 5 years old? What do we know about how young people respond to the virus? A study published on Tuesday found that younger people tend to experience milder symptoms than older ones. This could mean that some parents might want to keep their kids home from school during the pandemic. Researchers analyzed data collected from more than 11,000 patients across China. They looked at information such as age, gender, underlying health conditions, and whether the patient had been admitted to the hospital. Their findings showed that children aged 0 to 3 were the least likely to require intensive care, while adults over 60 were the most vulnerable. Children aged 4 to 9 were also less likely to be hospitalized compared to adults. Those aged 10 to 17 were slightly more likely to be hospitalized than adults.

The role of vaccines in a pandemic

Vaccines are crucial to controlling the spread of COVID-19. They protect people from getting sick and reduce transmission among those already infected. However, it could take up to 18 months for vaccines to reach everyone.

This timeline is based on data from the World Health Organization (WHO), which estimates that the development of a safe and effective vaccine takes around one year. This includes testing, manufacturing, and distribution.

In April 2020, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that there is no specific date for the availability of a vaccine. He added that it is clear that developing a vaccine requires time and resources.

But some scientists say that waiting too long to develop a vaccine could lead to greater harm than good. For example, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CBS News that “if you don’t do anything else, vaccinate everybody.”

He went on to explain why he believes that vaccines are important for fighting the virus.

“If you look at what happened in 1918, the mortality rate was something like 50%,” Fauci said. “And if you think about how many people died during that war, it was probably close to 40 million. So, if you think about the fact that we’re talking about a virus that kills relatively few people, and you give the benefit of doubt to the virus, and you assume that it spreads easily, and you allow for a fairly rapid spread, then we’re looking at a number somewhere in the vicinity of 200 million deaths worldwide.”

Fauci’s comments echo a statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). In a letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine on February 27, 2020, AAP President Lisa Siegel wrote, “We urge our colleagues to consider the benefits of immunization, including herd immunity, and to avoid delaying vaccination programs.”