Neurologic complications are common in children hospitalized with COVID-19 and are associated with worse hospital outcomes, according to a study published in Pediatrics. James W. Antoon, MD, PhD, and colleagues examined data from 15,137 children aged 2 months to less than 18 years with COVID-19 discharged from 52 children’s hospitals from March 2020 to March 2022 to understand neurological complications. The researchers found that 7.0% of children had a concurrent diagnosis of a neurologic complication, including febrile seizures (3.9%), non-febrile seizures (2.3%), and encephalopathy (2.2%). For children with neurologic complications, hospital length of stay, ICU admission, ICU length of stay, 30-day readmissions, deaths, and hospital costs were higher. Odds of neurologic complications were lower with younger age, occurrence during the delta variant predominant period, and presence of a non-neurologic complex chronic condition. Odds were higher with the presence of a neurologic complex chronic condition. “Our findings emphasize the importance of COVID-19 immunization in children, especially in high-risk populations, such as those with neurologic comorbidity,” Dr. Antoon and colleagues wrote.
