Symptoms that persist, recur, or begin a month or more after COVID-19 infection can affect both children and adolescents and adults.
Yes, but studies indicate that adults are less likely to be affected by symptoms that persist, recur, or begin a month or more after infection.
Estimates vary about how often the symptoms known as long COVID-19 occur in children. A recent study published in the UK found that approximately 4% of children and adolescents had symptoms more than a month after becoming infected. Fatigue, headaches, and loss of smell were among the most common complaints and most had disappeared in two months.
Cough, chest pain, and brain fog are among other long-term symptoms that are sometimes found in children, and can appear even after mild infections or no initial symptoms.
Some studies have found higher rates of persistent symptoms than in the UK study, but it is believed that children are less affected than adults. According to some estimates, approximately 30% of adult patients with COVID-19 develop long-term symptoms.
Experts are not sure what causes the long-term symptoms. In some cases, it could reflect damage to organs caused by the initial infection. Or it may be the result of persistent virus and inflammation in the body.
Children may develop other rare problems after an initial coronavirus infection, including heart inflammation or a condition known as multisystem inflammatory syndrome. This involves fever and inflammation affecting different parts of the body, among other possible symptoms. Affected children usually need to be hospitalized, but most recover. A similar condition can occur in adults.
The rapid spread of the highly contagious delta variant causes some physicians to be concerned about the possibility that there may be a higher number of children at risk for long COVID-19 and these other conditions.
Because of the potential for long-term consequences, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends follow-up doctor visits after children recover from an initial coronavirus infection.
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