Children with long COVID-19 may suffer from neurological symptoms, depending on their age, according to a new study.
To date, most research on long COVID focuses on adults, with symptoms typically consisting of crashes after mental or physical effort, brain fog, and shortness of breath. However, a new study published Aug. 21 in JAMA found that long COVID symptoms can look quite different for children and vary depending on the age group.
The researchers defined long COVID as having at least one symptom that last more than a month and was present at the time of the study.
For the study, researchers included 5,300 younger school-aged children and teenagers from over 60 healthcare facilities across the US who had COVID-19 between March 2022 and December 2023. The study was conducted using funding from the National Institutes of Health.
What Are the Long COVID Symptoms in Kids and Teens?
Among younger children aged 6 to 11, the researchers found that they were more likely to suffer from memory problems, back or neck pain, stomach pain, headaches, phobias, itchy skin or rash, trouble sleeping, nausea or vomiting, and lightheadedness.
Among teens ages 12 to 17, some of the symptoms changed. The most common long-term COVID symptoms recorded among adolescents who participated in the study include change or loss of smell or taste, muscle or joint pain, daytime sleepiness, low energy, fatigue after walking, trouble with memory or focus, headaches, and dizziness.
"We really wanted to understand how does long COVID look different across the ages?" Dr. Rachel Gross, lead study author, said in an interview with ABC News.
Who Were Most Affected by Long COVID
Among those infected with COVID-19, 20% of younger children and 14% of teens suffered from long COVID symptoms. That is higher than estimates. For instance, a report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) concluded that only 1.3% of US kids had long COVID as of 2022.
Furthermore, the study also found that children who were infected with COVID-19 before the Omicron wave, first confirmed in the US in December 2021, were especially likely to suffer long COVID.
