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Submitted by Dr S. Patel on 28 August 2020

A father who was himself Covid-19 positive, talks about his 12 year old son's neurological symptoms like headaches, eye aches and surprising falls which were eventually diagnosed as Covid-19 and their journey to recovery.  

I work for the Navy and was scheduled to go visit a ship docked in Mumbai. The new pandemic regulations required that I take a COVID test as a prerequisite. Surprisingly, the test came back positive. This was on 7th July and I went into home quarantine for 17 days. Till then, I had no symptoms but soon I started getting some breathlessness. So, I contacted our company doctor who told me that if my oxygen saturation was more than 95%, then there was no need for concern. He prescribed me Vitamin C, Zincovit and Immunace (antioxidants) tablets.

On 11th of July, my 12 year old son started having some shortness of breath, he thought he was choking. Since I had also experienced the same, I told him it will go away in a few days. At this time, we assumed he had caught my infection. Later that day, I was in the living room when I heard a thud. I ran to my  son’s room and saw him on the floor. He said he was on his chair and just fell off. We iced his bump on the head and let it be. The next day, he fell again twice, on his knees. I was worried; I put him into a car and took him to the nearest hospital but no beds were available. A friend of mine finally managed to secure a bed at the 3rd hospital we went to. I took him straight to the Covid ward and told them I’m positive, but they need to check my son. His Covid test result was unexpectedly negative. All his blood tests and ECG were also normal. It just said Acute Viral fever on his reports. He was put on IV saline. The hospital staff was very cooperative and told me to admit him and  myself for overnight observation. Since my wife and toddler were alone at home, I opted to go back home. My son agreed to stay overnight at the hospital but was shifted out of the Covid ward. The next day as the lockdown rules got tighter, I brought him back home. The following day, once again, he fell twice,  once in the morning and then in the evening.

By this time, we were very concerned and decided to reach out to a doctor. I downloaded the Apollo Clinic app and scheduled a teleconsult with a neurologist from Apollo hospital in New Delhi. Prior to the actual consult, a few doctors called to take his medical history. The neurologist studied his history and after speaking to us, told us this is a Covid case. Since the virus can affect any part of the body, it can have a detrimental effect on the nervous system. A few cases had popped up with acute neurological symptoms. He suggested that since he was otherwise fit we treat him at home with steroids. We were very apprehensive about giving steroids to a child, but he convinced us to try it for 3 days minimum. I reached out to a few Paediatricians and got a 2nd opinion on the same. When they all said, it was okay, I went ahead and gave him his first dose. We figured we would give him for just the 3 days and see how it goes. After the second dose, he did get some vomiting, but the neurologist had warned us about it. After 2.5 days, he had improved by 85% and that is when we stopped his medication.

During those days, he would sleep longer and even nap in the afternoon which was unusual for him. He would often feel uncomfortable and even skipped school. He would say he feels like he is tied down but seemed more tiredness than weakness. He had been complaining of headaches and eye aches since day one, but we brushed it aside thinking it was due to all the excessive screen time. A week or so later, his mother motivated him to study and appear for his exams.  He is an active child who plays tennis, but he was happy to sit on his bed that week and play his video games. I would sleep in his room and we would keep a mask on at home because I did not want my wife and more so my toddler to get it. Soon enough we both recovered and were back to our old selves.

My advice to others would be to not panic! Deal with it as it comes but be vigilant and seek medical help when required.