news-date">17.10.2022
American researchers come to the conclusion that long-term symptoms after a corona infection occur less frequently in children than in adults, but still more often than hospital admissions due to an acute illness with COVID-19.
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According to the American study, children under the age of five have a higher risk of long-term conditions or Long COVID if they have many chronic pre-existing conditions. Young patients with severe acute COVID-19 disease that required care in the intensive care unit were also among the children who were increasingly affected by long-lasting symptoms after a corona infection.
First author of the study, Dr. Suchitra Rao, MD, infectious disease specialist at Children’s Hospital Colorado, reported, “We concluded that many of the symptoms that children experience post-COVID-19 are similar to those seen in adults, but there are some characteristics that are more unique to children, such as myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle), abnormal liver enzymes, hair loss, skin rashes, and Diarrhea.” This is one of the largest studies that has researched the long-term consequences that can occur after corona disease in children. To do this, the scientists used electronic patient data from 659,286 SARS-CoV-2 tested children and compared the data of the 59,893 children who tested positive with the children who tested negative. Most adolescents were tested on an outpatient basis. The tests took place between March 1, 2020 and October 31, 2021. Clinicians identified complaints, symptoms and medications associated with the consequences of a corona infection one to six months after the test.
Longer-term problems most associated with coronavirus infection included loss of smell and taste, hair loss, chest pain, abnormal liver function tests, skin rashes, Fever and chills, tiredness and malaise. Among the health problems most associated with infection were myocarditis, acute shortness of breath and muscle inflammation (myositis). Children who suffered from longer-term problems after a corona infection were also more likely to have mental health problems compared to children who were not affected.
Sources: ScienceDaily, Children’s Hospital Colorado, JAMA Pediatrics