Varied Long COVID Symptoms in Children Across Ages

Long COVID manifests differently in children across different age groups, presenting a complex spectrum of symptoms that demand attention and understanding. From infants to school-going children and adolescents, each demographic grapples with its unique set of challenges stemming from this lingering condition. Low energy, tiredness, headaches, body, muscle, and joint pains, lightheadedness or dizziness, trouble concentrating or focusing; and gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea and vomiting, were commonly found among school-age children, adolescents, and young adults with a history of a Covid-19 infection.

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Researchers at the New York University in the US, surveyed 7,229 caregivers and children, 75 percent of whom had reported having had a COVID-19 infection. The school-age children reported more prolonged phobias or fears of specific things and school refusal, while adolescents noted more fears of crowds or enclosed spaces and panic attacks.

Adolescents and young adults also reported changes in smell or taste, while chest pain and palpitations were more common in young adults, but not in the younger age groups. Further, poor appetite, trouble sleeping, and fussiness, and prolonged respiratory symptoms like stuffy nose and cough were seen majorly among young children between birth and 5-years-old.

"These findings underscore the importance of characterizing Long Covid in children while researchers are still discovering the long-term effects of Covid-19 infection in this age group," said Rachel Gross, Associate Professor of pediatrics and population health at the University’s Grossman School of Medicine.

"This research is important because clinicians can appropriately diagnose and treat Long Covid when they better understand how different age groups are affected by the condition." The findings will be presented at the ongoing Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2024 Meeting, in Toronto, Canada.

Reference:

1. Spectrum of Clinical Symptoms Identified as Long COVID from Infancy Through Young Adulthood - (https://www.pas-meeting.org/)

Source-IANS