Article by Deb Carson
While many children have symptoms similar to adults, children with COVID 19 present with a type of severe inflammation (MIS-C) where they may experience days of fever, rash, low blood pressure, heart dysfunction, an altered blood clotting system, stomach issues, blood markers showing severe inflammation, and other manifestations. In such cases, oxygen, breathing support, steroids and antiviral medications may be administered. Hospital stays can be from a few days to weeks; severity is key to treatment and time in the hospital. “There are still so many things we don’t yet know,” says Dr. Anthony Sochet.
Dr. Sochet is a physician researcher with DTSP’s Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital’s (JHACH) Research Institute, leading the current study on blood clot prevention in pediatric COVID patients. His journey began in Pinellas and he’s glad to be back. He attended University of Florida, FSU Medical School, got his medical residency at USF, a fellowship at the Children’s National Health System in Washington, D.C., and a master’s from George Washington University. Sochet’s study is one of many JHACH research projects as part of the Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Institutes for Clinical and Translational Research, a world leader engaging in cutting-edge research with $15 million per year in NIH funding to support investigators translating discoveries into practice.
“The research is what keeps me up at night and motivated the questions. JHACH’s Research Institute allows me to thrive in a variety of fields of interest, including the assessment of clot development in critically ill COVID patients.” Need for the study became apparent early in the pandemic when survival was reduced in COVID patients with significantly higher rates of blood clot development (VTE). Risk factors for VTE in children needed more research.
Sochet teamed up with Institute Director Dr. Neil Goldenberg, Dr. John Morrison and 15 other U.S. sites. The study should be completed within three months, a modern marvel. He was astonished at how quickly the team mobilized, launching from “just a thought over coffee to actively enrolling patients in a matter of weeks. That is unheard of in academic medicine.”
Sochet says he is humbled by families’ willingness to participate. Children, already hospitalized, receive a medication that prevents life-threatening blood clots. “We had to design this study not only to protect the families but also the investigational team at all the participating sites. We use telemedicine when interviews and consent would normally happen in person. It’s cutting-edge research coordination in addition to cutting edge research.” Thirty days after discharge, the team follows up to see whether any side effects were experienced by these small patients.
As for a children’s COVID vaccine, Sochet says several are under development that will have to undergo safety evaluations in children just as in adults. “For now, preventative medicines will continue being given to help keep children from having severe complications, like clots. With time, learn more about who is at greatest risk. This helps us to understand the mechanisms of COVID; why some are severely ill when others are spared. Through well-designed research studies, we’ll be able to implement best strategies for prevention and treatment.”
When he’s not saving lives, Anthony Sochet is an avid singer, bass and guitar player and, with his physician wife, father to two children.