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