Long Covid short-lived in children

LONG Covid symptoms rarely last more than 12 weeks in children and teens, with the most common ailments being headache, fatigue, sleep disturbance, concentration difficulties and abdominal pain, a major study has found.

The Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) reviewed 14 international studies involving nearly 20,000 children to help guide policy about vaccinating children against Covid.

However, it found most of the studies were not robust and more research was needed.

Children over 12 are able to get a Covid vaccine but although clinical trials in younger children are under way, there is no vaccine yet approved in Australia, the US and Europe for those under 12.

There are fears unprotected Australian kids may be exposed to long Covid if schools reopen in states affected by the Delta outbreak.

Professor Nigel Curtis, head of Infectious Diseases at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital, said it was reassuring that there was little evidence symptoms persisted longer than 12 weeks.

“This suggested long Covid might be less of a concern in children and adolescents than in adults,” he said.

The MCRI reported earlier this week the Delta variant of Covid generally produced only asymptomatic or mild illness in children.

But the study found children and adolescents with preexisting health conditions including obesity, chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease and immune disorders have a 25-fold greater risk of severe Covid.

To date, only 70 Australian children with Covid (2.4 per cent) have been admitted to hospital and just five (0.2 per cent) were admitted to intensive care, with one death in an adolescent.