Many of these kids were completely healthy kids prior to the diagnosis and it can completely disrupt their life and their ability to participate in sports and school,” one researcher said.
When Monika Kalva Varma’s son started getting chronic headaches, long COVID was the last thing on her mind.
But when the 9-year-old contracted COVID-19 in December 2021, Akshay Varma developed asthma, chronic headaches, heart palpitations and other symptoms that lasted for months.
“We had been reading about (long COVID) for adults, we didn’t know it was really a thing for children,” said Kalva Varma, who lives in Alexandria, Virginia. If it weren’t for the pediatrician, “we may not have connected that it was long COVID.”
In the year and a half that Akshay struggled with his symptoms, doctors at post-COVID clinics have made strides in the pediatric field. Akshay, now 10, participated in a Children’s National Hospital study where researchers have been investigating the long-term effects of COVID-19 in children after recovering from an acute infection.
Over the past year, they’ve learned that an estimated 5% to 10% of children and teens develop a wide range of ongoing health problems called post-COVID conditions, or long COVID, said Dr. Roberta DeBiasi, chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Children’s National Hospital in Washington.
“Many of these kids were completely healthy kids prior to the diagnosis and it can completely disrupt their life and their ability to participate in sports and school,” she said. Along with researchers, the Biden administration has also made progress since coordinating with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services last year to address long COVID, including additional funding for research and raising awareness about the condition.
What experts have learned about long COVID in kids and symptoms
DeBiasi leads a team of researchers at Children’s National Hospital, who’ve been studying long COVID in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Their study has enrolled over 800 children and aims to end enrollment this summer with 1,000 participants, she said.
Most children studied didn’t have a severe bout of COVID-19, with many reporting mild symptoms during the acute infection.
Here’s what she’s learned:
►Researchers have been able to narrow down the prevalence of long COVID to about 5-10% of children. Previously, some experts had estimated as little as 1% while others thought as high as 20%. “The truth is somewhere in between,” DeBiasi said.
►The average age of children who get long COVID is about 13, but the study encompasses participants as young as 2 and as old as 20.
►Kids are less likely to experience lung problems from long COVID compared to adults. The most common long COVID symptoms among children and teens are significant fatigue or symptoms that worsen after physical or mental exertion, in addition to shortness of breath, chest pain, muscle aches, headaches or feeling like they can’t think clearly. Participants may also develop mental health conditions, like anxiety and depression.
►On average, participants report experiencing about 10 symptoms. “Some kids have only a couple of problems, but most of them have multiple problems going on at once,” DeBiasi said. “The goal of the initial intake visit is to catalogue everything and then address the things that are most impacting their functions.”
►The majority of kids with long COVID eventually recover from their symptoms. Some feel better in as little as six months, while others may take a year. “Our experience has been reassuring,” DeBiasi said. There are “very few children who have not gotten back to normal activities.”
