THE ESSENTIAL
- According to a recent study, 10 to 20% of infected children may experience prolonged symptoms of coronavirus infection.
- In toddlers aged 6 to 11 infected with the coronavirus, the most common manifestations were problems with memory, concentration and sleep as well as gastric problems.
- Among infected adolescents aged 12 to 17, loss of taste or smell, muscle and joint pain as well as daytime fatigue were more common.
Until now, work aimed at understanding the post-acute sequelae of Sars-CoV-2 infection has focused on adults, “with less information about this complex condition in children”according to researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (United States). This is why they decided to conduct a study to identify school-aged children and adolescents most likely to have long Covid and determine the prolonged symptoms they experience most.
3,860 children and adolescents have been infected with the coronavirus
For the purposes of the research, published in the journal JAMA Networkthe team recruited 5,367 children aged 6 to 11 and adolescents aged 12 to 17 followed in more than 60 health establishments between March 2022 and December 2023. More precisely, 751 school-aged children had already been infected by the coronavirus and 147 were in good health. Among the adolescents, 3,109 had contracted Covid-19 and 1,360 were not infected. “ Median time from first infection to symptom investigation was 506 days for children and 556 days for adolescents “, clarified the scientists. Then, they analyzed the presence of 89 prolonged and common symptoms in young patients by asking questions of their parents or legal guardians. Then, they used a series of statistical techniques to determine the odds that a participant would have each persistent symptom, comparing those who had previously been infected to those who had never been infected.
Covid-19: 10 to 20% of young people infected have prolonged symptoms
Data showed that 10% to 20% of infected children may have persistent symptoms of coronavirus infection. In detail, 14 symptoms were more common in those with or without a history of Sars-CoV-2 infection, with 4 additional symptoms in school-age children only and 3 in adolescents only.
According to the authors, the most common manifestations affected almost all organ systems. School-aged children had more neuropsychological effects, such as memory or concentration problems, and sleep problems and stomach symptoms. As for adolescents, they suffered more from a change or loss of taste or smell, muscle and joint pain as well as daytime fatigue.
Indices correlated with poorer general health and quality of life
“We also found an association between these indices and overall health, physical health and quality of life, highlighting the significant impact of long Covid on children and adolescents,” declared Melissa Stockwellco-senior author of the study. In the future, researchers will determine whether these pediatric groups are associated with different disease mechanisms, which would be essential for identifying treatment targets for future pediatric clinical trials.
