Most teenagers recover from long Covid illness after two years, study shows | Coronavirus

Most teenagers with long-term Covid-19 recover within two years, according to the largest study of its kind.

But researchers said more work was needed to understand why some children still had persistent health problems two years after infection.

Led by experts at University College London (UCL), the study looked at data from thousands of older children and young people. Adolescents aged 11 to 17 were asked about their health three, six, 12 and 24 months after taking a PCR test for the Covid virus between September 2020 and March 2021.

Of the 12,632 teens and older children who took part in the study, 943 tested positive and gave responses three, six, 12 and 24 months after their original test.

Of these, 233 were considered to have Long Covid three months after the first positive test result.

After six months, 135 continued to meet the research definition of long-Covid, according to the paper published in the journal Nature Communications. The study was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research and UK Research and Innovation.

The children and adolescents were considered to have Covid if they had more than one symptom for at least three months: fatigue, sleep problems, shortness of breath or headache, in addition to problems with mobility, self-care, carrying out usual activities, etc. Pain or discomfort or feeling very worried or sad.

After a year, 94 were still considered to have Long Covid.

That number fell to 68 two years after the first positive test, according to the study, which is the world’s largest “longitudinal cohort study” of long Covid in children.

Experts stressed that this means that 70% who had long Covid three months after infection would have recovered for two years. However, this was not the case for 30%. These children reported an average of five to six symptoms each time they reported their health status.

The most common symptoms were fatigue, sleep disturbances, shortness of breath and headaches.

“Our results show that the majority of teenagers who met our research definition of long Covid three months after testing positive for the Covid virus have recovered after two years,” said study lead researcher and first author Prof Sir Terence Stephenson the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health.

“This is good news, but we intend to conduct further research to better understand why 68 teenagers had not recovered.”

Experts found that older teenagers and the most disadvantaged people were more likely to get long Covid.

Girls were more likely to have long Covid than boys, although the study did not take menstruation or premenstrual syndrome into account.

The authors also emphasized that the children tested positive before the Delta and Omicron variants of the virus became dominant, so the results may not reflect the long-term effects of these variants.

Dr. Commenting on the study, Nathan Cheetham from King’s College London said: “This study shows again that health conditions like Long Covid tend to affect the most disadvantaged in society, both young and old.”

“These results underscore the need to address the underlying causes of disease, such as poor housing, financial burdens, and unequal access to health services, if we are to shift the focus to disease prevention before inequalities like those found in this study emerge.” .”

Sammie McFarland, from the charity Long Covid Kids, said: “Two years is a long time in a child’s life. While the study reassures us that most participants recovered within this period, the fact that 30% of children and young people are still affected underlines that Covid remains a significant childhood disease and urgent concern for a long time.

“This highlights the urgent need for effective treatments to alleviate the ongoing burden of this disease. Hormonal factors in symptom persistence require further investigation. While the findings provide hope, they also highlight the need for continued service, research and collaboration, including the voices of lived experience, to ensure that no child is left behind.

“Long Covid Kids remains committed to supporting families and advocating for vital resources.”

Dr. Margaret O’Hara, founding trustee of the charity Long Covid Support, said: “The limitations of this study show that new, high quality prospective research into Long Covid in children and young people is needed.”

“In the fifth year of the pandemic, it is astonishing that the true burden of harm that has been and continues to be inflicted on our children and young people across the UK is not clearly understood.”