Discoverer of the omicron variant successfully treated a six-year-old COVID patient with the “worst symptoms”

Dr. Angelique Coetzee of South Africa is credited with discovering the omicron variant among her patients.

ABC Radio National interviewed Dr. Coetzee about the omicron cases that she has seen. She said most have mild symptoms like fever, fatigue, headaches, body aches, and nausea. No one showed symptoms commonly seen with the Delta variant: “No loss of smell, no loss of taste, no severe congestion in their sinuses or any of that.” Most of the patients with the omicron variant tend to be treated with conservative measures.

However, a child stood out—a six-or seven-year-old child who had a high fever, rapid heart rate of 150 per minute, and was very lethargic. COVID-19 was diagnosed with a rapid test.

Dr. Coetzee considered hospitalization for the child, but she ended up starting Tamiflu because the symptoms were less than 24 hours. She sent the patient home.

The child started feeling much better the day after, and on follow-up at 48 hours, the “patient was feeling much, much better. Fever was gone, and the pulse dramatically dropped to normal”. That was the worst patient I have seen,” she said.

You can listen to the whole interview at this link.

Is there data on whether Tamiflu is effective for COVID-19?

A study tested Tamiflu for COVID-19 by computer modeling (in silico) and laboratory (in vitro). Their test showed that oseltamivir would not work on the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The same authors verified their findings by chart review and found that the COVID-19 patients that received Tamiflu did not get any better. Their clinical findings support that oseltamivir is not effective for COVID-19.

Conclusions: We consider that oseltamivir isn’t suitable for the treatment of COVID-19.

There are no other studies that show that Tamiflu (oseltamivir) is effective for COVID-19. That’s the reason why Tamiflu is not recommended for COVID-19.

What made the child better?

Most likely, it is the child’s natural immunity. Children with no co-morbidities recover uneventfully with COVID-19.

The hospitalization rate for children with COVID-19 is 0.1% – 2.0%. The mortality rate is almost zero at 0.00%-0.03%.

Fewer children are dying from COVID-19 compared to other diseases, according to this study.

The small size of their sinuses is one explanation of why COVID-19 is mild in children. The small sinuses have little amounts of ACE2 receptors where the COVID-19 virus can attach. This translates to a lower viral load and mild disease.

You can find studies at: Children 5-11 Years Old have Mild COVID-19

It is not known if the child that Dr. Coetzee treated had the omicron variant, but she mentioned that every six patients she saw had the omicron variant.

Take Away Message

Whether or not the antiviral worked for the child is debatable. There are no convincing data that oseltamivir works for COVID-19.

Physicians who have treated patients with the omicron variant say that they have mild symptoms.

What is sure is that children have the natural immunity to fight COVID-19.

Talk to your children’s doctors if they get sick.

 

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Related:

1. Adverse Reactions to Pfizer Biontech Vaccine for the 5-11 Years Old
2. Asymptomatic or mild symptomatic COVID-19 elicits effective and long-lasting antibody responses in children and adolescents
3. Can coronaviruses elicit long-lasting immunity?
4. 60% may already have Immunity to COVID-19
5. Pre-Existing T-Cells Stop COVID-19 Before it Starts
6. Harvard: Immunity from mild COVID-19 infection much better than vaccination
7. Natural Immunity Protected Tanzania and Zambia from COVID-19
8. CD4+ Cross-Reactivity between Seasonal Coronavirus Colds and COVID-19
9. Antibodies to COVID-19 can Exist in the Uninfected

References:

• Is oseltamivir suitable for fighting against COVID-19: In silico assessment, in vitro, and retrospective study
• American Academy of Pediatrics Children and COVID-19: State-Level Data Report
• Expression of the SARS-CoV-2 entry proteins, ACE2 and TMPRSS2, in cells of the olfactory epithelium: identification of cell types and trends with age. 
• COVID-19 mortality rate in children is U-shaped. 

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