Neurological complications of COVID-19 in children and its effect on the quality of life

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019, a pandemic that recently enveloped the world is a highly transmissible respiratory disease leading to 2,409,011 deaths in 2021. The most prevalent clinical symptoms in coronavirus disease 2019 patients are fever, cough, shortness of breath, and other respiratory issues. Coronavirus disease 2019 exhibits various neurological manifestations and complications which are quite rare in children. The purpose of this research is to review the available information about neurological complications of Coronavirus disease 2019 in children. Coronavirus disease 2019 is linked to neurological complications in children, including headaches, encephalopathy, and certain other neurological disorders. Involvement of the nervous system in coronavirus infection is either immediate, during the progression of the disease, after recovery, or as part of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. The clinical manifestations of coronavirus disease in new-borns and infants with neurological complications vary and can affect the whole neuraxis, affecting the central nervous system, peripheral nervous system, or both. In addition, children with multisystem inflammatory syndrome and coronavirus had severe neurological complications such as encephalitis, epilepsy, coma, dementia, dysgeusia or ageusia, aseptic meningitis, stroke, dysarthria, dysphagia, cerebellar ataxia, axial hypotonia, and drowsiness. Seizures in children are normally reported when they are suffering from fever due to viral infection. Neurological complications in children are rare and limited literature is available in this regard. More comprehensive, clinical follow-up studies can significantly contribute to understanding the relationship among coronavirus disease effects and neurological complications among children.