A British study states that only about four percent of children and teens have long-lasting COVID-19 symptoms.
Most children with COVID-19 recover within a week, but a small percentage experience long-term symptoms, according to a new study of more than 1,700 British children.
The researchers found that 4.4 percent of children had symptoms that last four weeks or longer, while 1.8 percent have symptoms that last for eight weeks or longer.
The findings suggest that what has sometimes been called “long COVID” may be rarer 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 that lasted at least four weeks; while 4.5 percent had symptoms that lasted at least eight weeks.
The study, published in the The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health on August 3, notes that, in children, SARS-CoV-2 infection is usually asymptomatic or causes a mild illness of short duration.
“Persistent illness has been reported; however, its prevalence and characteristics are unclear,” the researchers stated.
Study lead author and professor at King’s College London, Emma Duncan, says, “It is reassuring that the number of children experiencing long-lasting symptoms of COVID-19 is low. Nevertheless, a small number of children do experience long illness with COVID-19, and our study validates the experiences of these children and their families.”
The study had examined 258,790 children aged five to 17 years whose symptoms were reported by an adult proxy between March 24, 2020 and Feb 22, 2021,
Credit: punchng.com
