Convulsions in children with COVID-19 during the Omicron wave

Aim Most children with COVID-19 have mild symptoms, but data on the Omicron variant are rare. This paper describes unexpected cases with convulsions during 1 week in January 2022. Methods Four children with COVID-19 were admitted with convulsions to the paediatric department in orebro, Sweden, when Omicron accounted for more than 98% of the country's COVID-19 cases. Three children tested positive for the virus, and one had clinical COVID-19. I was able to contact the parents of three boys, who gave consent for these case studies. Results Two boys aged 3 and 21 months tested positive for the virus and a 14-year-old boy tested negative, but had a cold and family members who had tested positive. The teenager had a history of urinary tract infections, but the younger boys had no earlier comorbidities. None had a history of epilepsy or febrile convulsions. The younger children had a fever and the teenager had upper respiratory symptoms. The 3-month-old child had repeated convulsions for several hours, the 21-month-old had continuous convulsions for 15-20 min, and the teenager had a convulsion for 30-60 s, followed by uncharacteristic aggression. Conclusion Convulsions may be a sign of the Omicron variant in children with COVID-19.

Automated summary

This paper describes unexpected cases of children experiencing convulsions during the Omicron variant outbreak in Sweden. The younger children had fever symptoms, while the older child exhibited upper respiratory symptoms. The conclusion suggests that convulsions may be a sign of Omicron variant infection in children with COVID-19.