The Assessment of the Impact of the Omicron Variant in Pediatric COVID-19 Patients with Seizures

Purpose: This study was carried out to compare the demographic, laboratory, neurodiagnostic, and clinical characteristics of children with seizures infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during the period when the Omicron variant of concern (VOC) was the dominant VOC with those of the children infected with seizures infected with COVID-19 during the period prior to the emergence of the Omicron variant. Methods: The population of this retrospective observational cohort study consisted of totally 58 pediatric patients who had seizures and were diagnosed with COVID-19 between March 15th, 2020, and August 31st, 2022. Results: The median frequency of seizures during the follow-up period was 2 (min. 1, max. 7). Focal seizures were observed in four (7%) patients. There was no significant difference between the Omicron and pre-Omicron VOC groups in the demographic and clinical characteristics at admission and seizure findings (p>0.05). Excluding the patients with known neurological disease, the majority of the patients were under the age of six, and 84% were diagnosed with febrile convulsions. There was no significant difference between the groups in treatment protocols, diagnosis types, and clinical outcomes (p>0.05). Conclusion: The increase in seizures observed in children infected with COVID-19 during the last stages of the pandemic was associated with the Omicron VOC, which was the dominant VOC in this period. Nevertheless, the study findings indicated that the impact of the Omicron VOC was not more severe in children with seizures than in those infected with other COVID-19 variants.