Long Covid in infected children can last at least two months: Lancet study

Children infected with the SARSCoV2 virus can experience symptoms of long Covid lasting at least two months according to a study published in The Lancet Child amp Adolescent Health journal on ThursdayThe largest study to date of long Covid symptoms in children aged 014 years used national level sampling of children in Denmark and matched Covid19 positive cases with a control group with no prior history of a the diseaseThe overall aim of our study was to determine the prevalence of longlasting symptoms in children and infants alongside quality of life and absence from school or day care said Professor Selina Kikkenborg Berg from Copenhagen University Hospital Denmark Our results reveal that although children with a positive Covid19 diagnosis are more likely to experience longlasting symptoms than children with no previous Covid19 diagnosis the pandemic has affected every aspect of all young peoples lives Berg saidAlso read Mumbairsquos Covid19 test positivity rate close to 30 per centFurther research into the longterm consequences of the pandemic on all children will be important going forwards the researcher said Most previous studies of long Covid in young people have focussed on adolescents with infants and toddlers seldom represented In the study surveys were sent to the mother or guardian of children between 014 years who had tested positive for Covid19 between January 2020 and July 2021In total responses were received for almost 11000 children with a positive Covid19 test result who were matched by age and sex to over 33000 children who had never tested positive for Covid19 The surveys asked participants about the 23 most common symptoms of long Covid in children and used the World Health Organization definition of long Covid as symptoms lasting more than two monthsThe most commonly reported symptoms among children 03 years old were mood swings rashes and stomach aches Among 411 years old the most commonly reported symptoms were mood swings trouble remembering or concentrating and rashes and among 1214 years old fatigue mood swings and trouble remembering or concentratingThe results of the study found children diagnosed with Covid19 in all age groups to be more likely to experience at least one symptom for two months or longer than the control group In the 03 years age group 40 per cent of children diagnosed with Covid19 478 of 1194 children experienced symptoms for longer than two months compared to 27 per cent of controls 1049 of 3855 childrenFor the 411 years age group the ratio was 38 per cent of cases 1912 of 5023 children compared to 34 per cent of controls 6189 of 18372 children and for the 1214 years age group 46 per cent of cases 1313 of 2857 children compared to 41 per cent of controls 4454 of 10789 children experienced longlasting symptomsThe types of nonspecific symptoms associated with long Covid are often experienced by otherwise healthy children headache mood swings abdominal pain and fatigue are all symptoms of common ailments that children experience which are unrelated to Covid19 However the study revealed that children with a positive Covid19 diagnosis were more likely to experience longlasting symptoms than children who had never had a positive diagnosis suggesting that these symptoms were a presentation of long CovidThis is supported by approximately one third of children with positive Covid19 tests experiencing symptoms that were not present before the SARSCoV2 infection the researchers said In addition with increasing duration of symptoms the proportion of children with those symptoms tended to decrease Generally children diagnosed with Covid19 reported less psychological and social problems than children in the control group they saidIn older age groups cases often felt less scared had less trouble sleeping and felt less worried about what would happen to them according to the researchers A likely explanation for this is the increased pandemic awareness in older age groups with children in the control group experiencing fear of the unknown disease and more restricted everyday life due to protecting themselves from catching the virus they added