Kids With Covid Are Healing Fast, But A Few Have Long-Term Symptoms

Although most children with Covid-19 recover within a week, a small percentage experience long-term symptoms, according to a new study of more than 1,700 British children. Researchers found that 4.4 percent of children have symptoms lasting four weeks or longer, while 1.8 percent have symptoms lasting eight weeks or longer.

The findings suggest that what is sometimes referred to as the “long Covid” may be less common in children than adults. In a previous study, some of the same researchers found that 13.3 percent of adults with Covid-19 had symptoms lasting at least four weeks, and 4.5 percent had symptoms lasting at least eight weeks.

D., an endocrinologist at King’s College London and lead author of the study. “The low number of children experiencing long-term Covid-19 symptoms is reassuring,” Emma Duncan said in a statement. “Still, few children suffer from long-term illness with Covid-19, and our study validates the experience of these children and their families.”

Study, Published on Tuesday The article, published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, is based on analysis of data collected by: Covid Symptom Study smartphone application. The report focuses on 1,734 children aged 5 to 17 who tested positive for the virus and developed symptoms between September 1 and January 24. Parents or caregivers have reported children’s symptoms on the app.

In most cases, the illness was mild and brief. The children were sick for an average of six days and experienced an average of three symptoms. The most common symptoms were headache and fatigue.

But a small group of children experienced persistent symptoms such as fatigue, headaches and loss of smell. Children ages 12 to 17 were sick longer than younger children and were more likely to experience symptoms lasting at least four weeks.

Dr. “We hope that our results will be useful and timely for the doctors, parents and schools caring for these children, and of course the affected children themselves,” Duncan said.

The researchers also compared children who tested positive for the coronavirus with those who reported symptoms on the app but tested negative for the virus. Children who tested negative and had other illnesses, such as a cold or flu, recovered faster and were less likely to have symptoms persistence than children with Covid. On average, they were sick for three days, and only 0.9 percent of children had symptoms lasting at least four weeks.