September 19, 2023 – The rate of long-COVID illness in children is “strikingly low,” lower than 1%, say researchers behind a brand new study published within the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
In the overall population, around 10% of people that contract COVID-19 are affected by long COVID. Yahoo Life reported.
The World Health Organization defines long COVID as symptoms three months after infection with the virus. Symptoms must last no less than two months and there is no such thing as a other explanation.
In the current study, researchers said, “For most children, symptoms resolved within two weeks of infection.”
“This does not mean that parents should shy away from vaccinating their peers,” said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist and professor of medication at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, told Yahoo Life.
“We know that vaccinations not only prevent severe COVID, but also help reduce long COVID,” he says. “I wouldn’t let this one study alone stop you from vaccinating your children.”
In the study, researchers examined information from greater than 1,000 children with a mean age of 10.5 years in Alberta, Canada, from August 2020 to March 2021.
Children were considered to have long COVID if:
- You had a positive PCR test for COVID-19 infection.
- They had latest symptoms that appeared three months after a positive PCR test for the virus.
- And the symptoms lasted for no less than eight weeks after they began.
The investigation found that symptoms improved inside 10 weeks of a positive COVID-19 test.
The commonest symptoms included a sore throat, nasal congestion, cough and fever.
Only one child was considered to satisfy the WHO definition of long COVID illness.