Boy aged just 3 suffers stroke after catching Covid
Colt Parris suffered slurred speech and paralyzed limbs on the right side of his body, with doctors believing the stroke was linked to his Covid infection
A three year-old boy suffered a stroke after catching coronavirus, with doctors saying Covid was to blame for the toddler’s brain condition. Colt Parris had to undergo emergency surgery for the condition far more commonly suffered by the elderly after testing positive for Covid at a hospital near his home in Salisbury, Missouri, last week.
Colt’s parents Sara and Tim Parris took him to hospital after he stopped eating and drinking. Last Wednesday, Sara says she noticed Colt’s speech grow slurred, while her young also began to lose the ability to use the right side of his body. Both symptoms commonly associated with strokes, which sees sufferers’ brains damaged when the flow of oxygen to their brains is interrupted.
Sara said: ‘I noticed Wednesday his speech was a little off, but I honestly thought he’s in so much pain and he’s so tired. So, I went to hand him his Boo and I noticed that he didn’t use his dominate arm to grab it.
‘He reached over to grab his bunny and then again, I knew something else wasn’t right.’ Doctor Paul Carney, from Missouri University Women and Children’s Hospital in Columbia, ran tests on Colt – and delivered news of the youngster’s diagnosis to his parents.
Dr Carney said: ‘The result came back and I looked at it and it was a clear stroke. So, there was a lack of blood supply to the left side of the brain.’ Colt underwent emergency surgery which removed a blood clot from his brain, and showed immediate improvements in his speech afterwards.
Dr Camilo Gomez, the surgeon who removed the clot, says Colt’s stroke was almost certainly linked to his Covid diagnosis, because patients with the virus ‘have the propensity to form clots.’
Medics told KSN they hope Colt will make a full recovery. Dr Carney said he has only seen one other case similar to Colt’s, with that child ultimately dying of his symptoms.
Colt’s parents homeschooled him when Covid hit US shores to try and keep their son safe, and took the threat of the virus seriously.
The virus was initially believed to pose little threat to children, but doctors now say Covid can cause serious illness in young children, including a newly-discovered condition called Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (MIS-C).
Some experts fear MIS-C could cause child sufferers to experience permanent scarring to their heart.
Dr Carney urged parents whose children catch Covid to be on the lookout for signs of potentially serious illness.
He said: ‘I would say that if you notice your child has Covid and having problems walking or talking, don’t just chalk it up, “oh they just have a fever.
‘It could be a nervous system problem. What was different here was a child and as I mention, there’s really no other case like this.
‘If this had been anybody over the age of 40 or 60, they would have probably had a very different outcome.’
The US has now recorded more than 18.6million Covid infections, and over 329,000 deaths.
Two vaccines which prevent serious symptoms have been approved for use, although they are not expected to become widely available until well into 2021.
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