New insights into long COVID have revealed significant differences in symptoms based on age, suggesting that younger children and adolescents experience distinct manifestations of the condition. This understanding is crucial for improving diagnosis and treatment.
Historically, research on long COVID has largely concentrated on adults, leading to misconceptions about its prevalence in children, according to experts.
A recent study followed 751 children aged 6 to 11 and 3,109 adolescents aged 12 to 17 who had previously contracted the SARS-CoV-2 virus, as reported by their caregivers.
The study defined long COVID as the presence of at least one symptom lasting more than one month, which started or worsened during the pandemic and persisted at the time of evaluation.
Among younger children, common symptoms included sleep disturbances, difficulty concentrating, and gastrointestinal issues such as abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and constipation. These symptoms were significantly less frequent in nearly 150 uninfected children, who demonstrated no antibodies against the virus.
In contrast, adolescents typically reported symptoms like pain, fatigue, and loss of smell or taste, compared to 1,300 uninfected peers.
The reasons behind these variations in symptoms among age groups remain unclear, but factors such as hormonal changes and immune system differences may play a role. Furthermore, adolescents might be more adept at articulating their health concerns, while younger children’s symptoms could go unnoticed until more extreme signs appear.
Based on this research, scientists have created a scoring system to assess the likelihood of young individuals having long COVID. Accurate diagnoses currently rely on physicians ruling out other conditions and recognizing the various presentations of long COVID. This scoring tool could enhance clinician awareness, aiding in the identification and management of long COVID in children and adolescents.
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