Symptoms of Covid-19 rarely persist beyond 12 weeks in children – a reassuring sign that they are much less likely than adults to suffer from the debilitating effects of long Covid. A scientific review by pediatric researchers from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne concludes that for the most part global studies of long Covid in children have “significant limitations” and that many overestimate the risk.
Long Covid is not an official medical term, but it is used to describe cases where the person suffers from the symptoms of the virus for longer than the official two-week period considered by the World Health Organization. The review, just published in the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, analyzed the results of 14 studies involving 19,426 children. And he reports that the most common symptoms, experienced between 4 and 12 weeks after an acute infection in children, are headaches, fatigue, sleep disturbances, difficulty concentrating and abdominal pain.
Chief research officer and pediatric infectious disease specialist, Professor Nigel Curtis, writes that the scrutinized data clearly shows that Covid remains a mild disease in children under 12 and that hospital admissions are rare. It also notes that existing studies of long Covid in children have “important limitations”, and that more research is needed to establish the long-term risks posed by Covid 19 to children. A good part of the studies also lack a clear definition of cases and age-related data, consider variable follow-up times and frequently rely on symptoms reported by the child or parents, without laboratory confirmation. (HANDLE)
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