Most kids carry Omicron variant without any consequences: Study

Most children carry the Omicron strain of Covid-19 without any consequences for their health, according to a study.

While the Omicron variant has been touted as mild, it has led to a significant rise in infection among kids.

However, "we have only preliminary data so far. It is currently impossible to estimate the frequency of complications in kids", Deputy Director for Clinical Research of the Russian sanitary watchdog's Gabrichevsky Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology Tatyana Ruzhentsova told TASS news agency.

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But, "most children do not have any consequences after being infected with Omicron", she said.

At the same time, according to Ruzhentsova, some young patients still have fatigue, headaches, and a slight temperature rise.

"Such children should be under medical supervision, generally [under supervision of] a local paediatrician. If necessary, (they) should get an additional examination," she added.

Also read: Why can’t children aged 15 years and below get Covid-19 booster?

Ruzhentsova said earlier that the Omicron coronavirus variant causes a milder post-Covid syndrome than the Delta strain, the report said.

A study by Case Western Reserve University looked at the health records of 80,000 kids and found the Omicron hospitalisation rate was 1 per cent. With Delta, it was higher, at 3 per cent. But again, with a lot more infected kids, that 1 per cent turns into a bigger actual number.

Long covid diagnosis is considered very rare in children. But some children across the US have reported an array of symptoms, ranging from headaches, stomach aches and dizziness, to fatigue, brain fog and mood changes, long after their initial infection. the Guardian reported.

Also Read | India's daily Covid-19 cases dip below 1 lakh

One Danish study published online in the European Journal of Pediatrics in January included about 30,000 children aged 0 to 17, around half of whom had previously tested positive for Covid. For those ages six to 17, 0.8 per cent more Covid-positive children recalled having symptoms lasting more than four weeks, compared with a control group.

Another report from Italy showed that among 129 children who tested positive for Covid about 43 per cent experienced at least one symptom more than 60 days after their initial infection.

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