• Am J Emerg Med · May 2021

    Case Reports

    A case series of pediatric croup with COVID-19.

    • April M R Venn, James M Schmidt, and Paul C Mullan.
    • Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters, 601 Children's Lane, Norfolk, VA, 23507, USA; Eastern Virginia Medical School, P.O. Box 1980, Norfolk, VA 23501-1980, USA; Department of Emergency Medicine, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York Presbyterian Hospital, 630 W. 168th St, New York, NY 10032, USA. Electronic address: amv2v@virginia.edu.
    • Am J Emerg Med. 2021 May 1; 43: 287.e1287.e3287.e1-287.e3.

    AbstractWe describe three previously healthy children, admitted from our emergency department (ED) to our free-standing children's hospital, as the first documented cases of croup as a manifestation of SARS-CoV-2 infection. All three cases (ages 11 months, 2 years, and 9 years old) presented with non-specific upper-respiratory-tract symptoms that developed into a barky cough with associated stridor at rest and respiratory distress. All were diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 by polymerase chain reaction testing from nasopharyngeal samples that were negative for all other pathogens including the most common etiologies for croup. Each received multiple (≥3) doses of nebulized racemic epinephrine with minimal to no improvement shortly after medication. All had a prolonged period of time from ED presentation until the resolution of their stridor at rest (13, 19, and 21 h). All received dexamethasone early in their ED treatment and all were admitted. All three received at least one additional dose of dexamethasone, an atypical treatment occurrence in our hospital, due to each patient's prolonged duration of symptoms. One child required heliox therapy and admission to intensive care. All patients were eventually discharged. Pathogen testing is usually not indicated in croup, but with "COVID-19 croup," SARS-CoV-2 testing should be considered given the prognostic significance and prolonged quarantine implications. Our limited experience with this newly described COVID-19 croup condition suggests that cases can present with significant pathology and might not improve as rapidly as those with typical croup.Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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