Havana, July 21 (ACN) Cuba has reported the largest numbers of children infected with SARS-Cov-2 over the past few days and even when most of them are progressing favorably, there is the risk to develop long-time aftereffects.
Doctor Lissette del Rosario, head of the National Pediatrics Group at the Cuban Health Ministry, said that multi-disciplinary consultations in primary and secondary healthcare detected frequent COVID-19 aftereffects like psychological, cardiovascular, neurological, kidney and lung problems.
Among them, the most common are cardiovascular conditions such as myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) and pericarditis (inflammation of the outer layer that covers the heart), hypertrophy of the ventricles, profuse sweating, high blood pressure and arrhythmias, present even small children.
In addition, some neurological alterations have been described including encephalitis (inflammation of the brain).
The specialist also said that they have detected kidney and intestinal damage with diarrhea being the most frequent condition, also associated with loss of taste and anorexia (loss of appetite).
The doctor said that the virus imposes a change in the lifestyle of minors as they see themselves in hospital and at times separated from their parents due to their clinical conditions; some of them show fears, lack of concentration, psychological unbalances needing immediate treatment.
Post COVID-19 clinical consultations aimed at searching, detecting and treating organic, functional and psychological alterations caused by the virus in asymptomatic slightly symptomatic patients, since the disease poses a challenge to science and medicine.
Some study prove that aftereffects may last six months and even more than a year after the person got the virus, though this is still under research.
The expert called on all parents and the people not to lower the guard even when clinical trials in children are currently underway with locally developed vaccines.
