March 29, 2022 — Overwhelming numbers of early puberty cases among girls have been reported during the pandemic, according a report co-published by and girls younger than 8 have started menstruation.
“I noticed that quite a few of my [girl patients] got their period after a lockdown,” Adiaha Spinks-Franklin, MD, a pediatrician at Texas Children’s Hospital, told the news outlets.
The condition, also called ovaries, adrenal glands, pituitary gland, or brain.
Pediatricians across the world have reported more precocious puberty cases, the news outlets reported, including in the U.S., India, Italy, and Turkey.
A recent study found that more than 300 girls were referred to five pediatric endocrinology centers in Italy between March and September 2020, as opposed to 140 referrals during the same time period in 2019.
In stress that the children have gone through,” Vaishakhi Rustagi, MD, a pediatric endocrinologist in Delhi, India, told the news outlets.
In a typical year, Rustagi sees about 20 patients with early puberty. Since mid-2020, she’s seen more than 300 girls with the condition. Imaging scans and ultrasounds haven’t found tumors, and the cause has been mostly unidentifiable, though Rustagi attributes it to stress and grief.
“These children have lost family members,” she said.
Early puberty is known to increase depression, eating disorders, substance abuse, and antisocial behavior, the news outlets reported.
The main treatment for the condition, a form of hormone therapy known as GnRH analogue therapy, is known to work very well. But some patients and families may not seek treatment due to a lack of awareness or stigmas that come with menstruation.