Nearly six percent of children, who presented to the Emergency Department (ED) with Covid-19, reported long-term Covid-19 symptoms 90 days later, says a new study.
The study published in the journal ‘JAMA Network Open’ indicates that initial hospitalization of 48 hours or more, four or more symptoms at the initial emergency department visit, and age 14 years or older were associated with COVID- 19.
“We found that in some children, illness with Covid-19 is associated with reporting persistent symptoms after three months,” said researcher Stephen Freedman of the University of Calgary.
“Our findings suggest that appropriate guidance and follow-up is needed, especially for children at high risk of prolonged Covid,” Freedman added.
For the study, the team included 1,884 children with Covid-19 who were followed up for 90 days.
Long-Covid was found in almost 10% of hospitalized children and 5% of children discharged from the ED.
“The rates of COVID-19 reported in adults are substantially higher than what we found in children,” said researcher Nathan Kuppermann of the University of California, Davis.
“Our findings can inform public health policy decisions regarding Covid-19 mitigation strategies for children and approaches to screening for COVID-19 among those with severe infections,” Kuppermann added.
The most commonly reported persistent symptoms in children were fatigue or weakness, cough, shortness of breath, or shortness of breath.
20220723-131203