If you or someone you know contracts COVID, knowing what symptoms to expect day by day can be incredibly helpful. Since Omicron is affecting people of all ages, many parents are concerned about what to do if their child becomes infected. Are the symptoms similar? What should they be looking for in the early stages versus the middle? And what to COVID symptoms day by day typically look like for kids? “COVID-19 has been unpredictable when it comes to the arrival of symptoms and which symptoms it can cause as it varies per person, including children. In adults the incubation period typically ranges from 2-14 days, but with the Omicron, this period tends to be two to three days,” Dr. Robert Quigley, MD, SVP and Global Medical Director of International SOS, explains. While many children may show no symptoms or mild symptoms, such as low-grade fever or fatigue, there are children with underlying medical conditions that are experiencing severe illness. There is also the risk of multi-system inflammatory syndrome, recently described in some children (MIS-C), which can be a life-threatening condition associated with a COVID-19 infection, Dr. Quigley adds. MIS-C inflames different parts of the body such as the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, joints, eyes or gastrointestinal organs. Should your child experience MIS-C symptoms, which include, but are not limited to, a fever for two days or more, stomachaches, lethargy, difficulty breathing, confusion contact your pediatrician immediately. If you’re worried your child has COVID—or if they’ve recently tested positive—here’s what you can generally expect their day-by-day symptoms to look like.
COVID symptoms day-by-day for kids
While symptoms will vary based on vaccination status—as in adults, we can expect vaccinated kids to display less severe symptoms than unvaccinated kids—Dr. Quigley outlines what each of the symptoms typically look like over a 10-day period:
Day 1-3
Initial symptoms can vary depending on the child. For many children, these symptoms tend to be mild within the first couple of days of infection. Symptoms can range from low-grade fevers, to headache, cough, fatigue, and more.
Day 4-6
A few days into showing symptoms of COVID-19 is when thing could get more severe. Children may experience a worsening headache, loss of taste or smell (although less likely with Omicron variant), and nausea. In some cases, children may be hospitalized if they experience symptoms such as trouble breathing, dehydration and persistent pain or pressure in the chest. Because of their smaller airways and softer windpipes, infected children can develop an illness similar to croup with a barking-type cough.
Day 7-8
At this point, many children who experience mild symptoms throughout the incubation period will start to see some of their symptoms begin to fade away. If a child continues to experience severe symptoms, such as a fever lasting more than a few days, it may become necessary to contact your child’s pediatrician for recommendations on next steps or to have them evaluated.
Day 8-10
As noted above, day 8 through 10 will start to be the period where symptoms continue to decline or disappear. There may be some symptoms that remain such as low-grade fevers and slight headaches. It is important to continue to monitor symptoms in children, especially those that are too young to communicate how they are feeling. It is also imperative that children are tested before returning to their daily routine, even if they are no longer showing symptoms, to ensure they are not capable of spreading the virus.
Why you should pay extra attention after day 10
The day five to 10 period of COVID-19 is when doctors are the most worried about older patients or those with underlying health issues experiencing respiratory complications, however, younger patients may not develop complications until day 10 to 12. “It’s important to track your child’s COVID-19 symptoms daily and if they start to experience shortness of breath or any other worrisome symptoms, you should seek medical care,” Dr. Quigley explains. “It is also important to remember that therapy such as anti-viral medicines or monoclonal antibodies work better when instituted early on in the disease.” The timeline for children that do show symptoms of COVID-19 is similar to that of an adult. The difference in symptoms for children is that many will only experience very mild symptoms or are asymptomatic, Dr. Quigley says. As mentioned in the timeline of symptoms of children, every child is different and will experience symptoms at a different rate, if any. Due to the variation of symptoms in each positive case, it is difficult to put a label on a day or timeframe that may be most important for children. However, severe symptoms can develop after 10 days when the child experiences a “second wave” after what appeared to be a plateau of symptoms, Dr. Quigley notes. For that reason alone parents or guardians need to be vigilant even if the child appears to be improving. It’s also important to understand that symptoms vary with each variant. On days 1-3 after symptoms begin, kids will often experience the following:
Omicron
“Everything is up for grabs here! Headache, fatigue, sneezing, sore throat, runny nose, and more,” says Dr. Robert G. Lahita, MD, PHD, Director of the Institute for Autoimmune and Rheumatic Disease at Saint Joseph Health and author of the upcoming book Immunity Strong. “Fever and chills are less common but can happen.” If a child happens to get one of the other variants, which is less common but still possible in the current timeframe, here’s what you can expect:
Pre-Delta (Alpha/Beta) variant
Cough and fever is very common. Sometimes runny nose, sneezing, and less commonly a sore throat. Children are unlikely to experience chest pain.
Delta
Fatigue, sore throat, headache, and persistent cough. Not usually a fever or loss of taste or smell. With Omicron, if after five days symptoms are gone, kids should feel comfortable leaving the house if they wear a mask for the next five days. “This is a much shorter timeline than previous variants,” Dr. Lahita explains. “Most people feel fine after only a few days, and many people are experiencing less severe effects than previous variants—more like the common cold.” Next up, getting a positive COVID-19 test is scary and isolating—here are 15 ways to help.
Sources
Dr. Robert Quigley, SVP and Global Medical Director of International SOSDr. Robert G. Lahita, MD, PhD, Director of the Institute for Autoimmune and Rheumatic Disease at Saint Joseph Health and author of the upcoming book Immunity Strong
