Croup as a manifestation of COVID-19 in infancy: a case series

Abstract

The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India brought with it an emerging clinical spectrum of the infection in children. Amongst these is the rarely reported presentation of croup, which otherwise remains a common clinical condition in infants caused by a variety of viruses and seen by pediatricians regularly. Airway manifestations of COVID-19 require reporting and unless their evaluation brings up any specific peculiarities, it is imperative to screen all such children presenting to the emergency department for SARS-CoV-2 infection. We hereby reported a series of three infants who were brought to us with typical features of croup including a mild fever, runny nose and indicators of subglottic inflammation including a hoarse voice, brassy cough and an inspiratory stridor. Each of them responded to conventional therapies for croup. However, the added conundrum of possible SARS-CoV-2 infection increases the relevance of rapid screening, assessment for complications and counselling in children presenting with croup.