OBJECTIVES: COVID-19 is a disease of varying presentation and neurological sequelae of the disease are being studied. Following a cluster of paediatric facial nerve palsy (FNP) cases in an area of South Wales with a high prevalence of COVID-19, we conducted an opportunistic study to determine whether there has been an increase in incidence of FNP and if there is an association between the FNP and COVID-19 in children. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study. Using the case series from 2020 and comparing it with previous years. METHODS: We reviewed the incidence of FNP between 2015-2020 across two hospitals within the health board. The incidence was compared with that in 2020 including a cluster of six children in 14 weeks, presenting to the Royal Glamorgan Hospital between June and October. RESULTS: There were 48 cases of children with FNP across both hospital within the study years. Seven (7) cases in 2020. The incidence was not statistically different in comparison to other years.Five out of six of these children in 2020 had antibody testing for COVID-19. All serology testing (100%) returned negative for SARS-CoV- 2 antibodies.In high prevalence area for COVID-19, cases of children with FNP have not shown a commensurate increase. we have found no causal link between COVID-19 and FNP in children. While this is a small study, larger cohort studies are needed to support this finding. CONCLUSION: As new strains of COVID-19 are being reported in UK, South Africa and Brazil, physicians need to continue to be vigilant for consistent pattern of signs and symptoms, especially in children.
OBJECTIVES: COVID-19 is a disease of varying presentation and neurological sequelae of the disease are being studied. Following a cluster of paediatric facial nerve palsy (FNP) cases in an area of South Wales with a high prevalence of COVID-19, we conducted an opportunistic study to determine whether there has been an increase in incidence of FNP and if there is an association between the FNP and COVID-19 in children. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study. Using the case series from 2020 and comparing it with previous years. METHODS: We reviewed the incidence of FNP between 2015-2020 across two hospitals within the health board. The incidence was compared with that in 2020 including a cluster of six children in 14 weeks, presenting to the Royal Glamorgan Hospital between June and October. RESULTS: There were 48 cases of children with FNP across both hospital within the study years. Seven (7) cases in 2020. The incidence was not statistically different in comparison to other years.Five out of six of these children in 2020 had antibody testing for COVID-19. All serology testing (100%) returned negative for SARS-CoV- 2 antibodies.In high prevalence area for COVID-19, cases of children with FNP have not shown a commensurate increase. we have found no causal link between COVID-19 and FNP in children. While this is a small study, larger cohort studies are needed to support this finding. CONCLUSION: As new strains of COVID-19 are being reported in UK, South Africa and Brazil, physicians need to continue to be vigilant for consistent pattern of signs and symptoms, especially in children.
Authors: Ross W Paterson; Rachel L Brown; Laura Benjamin; Ross Nortley; Sarah Wiethoff; Tehmina Bharucha; Dipa L Jayaseelan; Guru Kumar; Rhian E Raftopoulos; Laura Zambreanu; Vinojini Vivekanandam; Anthony Khoo; Ruth Geraldes; Krishna Chinthapalli; Elena Boyd; Hatice Tuzlali; Gary Price; Gerry Christofi; Jasper Morrow; Patricia McNamara; Benjamin McLoughlin; Soon Tjin Lim; Puja R Mehta; Viva Levee; Stephen Keddie; Wisdom Yong; S Anand Trip; Alexander J M Foulkes; Gary Hotton; Thomas D Miller; Alex D Everitt; Christopher Carswell; Nicholas W S Davies; Michael Yoong; David Attwell; Jemeen Sreedharan; Eli Silber; Jonathan M Schott; Arvind Chandratheva; Richard J Perry; Robert Simister; Anna Checkley; Nicky Longley; Simon F Farmer; Francesco Carletti; Catherine Houlihan; Maria Thom; Michael P Lunn; Jennifer Spillane; Robin Howard; Angela Vincent; David J Werring; Chandrashekar Hoskote; Hans Rolf Jäger; Hadi Manji; Michael S Zandi Journal: Brain Date: 2020-10-01 Impact factor: 13.501
Authors: Marco A Lima; Marcus Tulius T Silva; Cristiane N Soares; Renan Coutinho; Henrique S Oliveira; Livia Afonso; Otávio Espíndola; Ana Claudia Leite; Abelardo Araujo Journal: J Neurovirol Date: 2020-10-02 Impact factor: 2.643