New York: Children inflamed with COVID-19 but hospitalized can still have prolonged COVID symptoms up to 3 months after infection, according to a study.
Previous studies have found that children and adults hospitalized with COVID-19 are more likely to develop prolonged COVID symptoms.
The one conducted by researchers at the University of Texas at Houston evaluated 1,813 volunteers between the ages of five and 18. Of these, 82 young people reported having prolonged Covid symptoms. 1. 5% showed symptoms that lasted between 4 and 12 weeks, adding loss of taste and smell, fatigue and cough.
Another 3. 3% reported that symptoms such as loss of smell, cough and shortness of breath persisted for more than 12 weeks.
In addition, among those who reported symptoms in the past 12 weeks, unvaccinated and obese children were more likely to develop prolonged covid, the study published in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal found.
“These findings are consistent with other publications that have found that youth and adults who have comorbid physical conditions and are vaccinated are at increased risk of being hospitalized for the virus,” said Sarah Messiah, a professor of epidemiology, human genetics and environmental sciences at UTHealth. Dallas School of Public Health.
In addition, researchers found that children infected with COVID-19 before the onset of the Delta variant had an increased risk of having prolonged COVID.
“If I had COVID-19 earlier in the pandemic, I was more at risk for longer symptoms. With Delta and Omicron, we saw many children who ended up hospitalized, but their symptoms were less severe and our effects show that they were also less likely to report persistent symptoms,” Messiah said.
The findings, Messiah said, are because they highlight the presence of young people outside the hospital who would possibly also revel in prolonged and persistent covid symptoms after infection.
“You might think you have to be hospitalized to have a prolonged COVID, and that’s not what we found. I urge parents to be careful and vaccinate their children against COVID-19, as we know this will minimize the threat of infection and prolonged covid,” he said.
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