Vast majority of children recover quickly from virus

JUST five per cent of children who get symptomatic coronavirus go on to develop long Covid with the vast majority making a full recovery in less than a month, a study shows.

Fewer than one in 20 children have symptoms four weeks after being diagnosed. The number drops to one in 50 after eight weeks, with the average time of recovery being six days.

Data from the Zoe Covid study, run by King’s College London, tracked symptomatic children between September 2020 and February 2021.

The study showed that the most common symptoms reported in youngsters were headaches, tiredness, a sore throat and loss of smell.

Scientists said it was reassuring that there were no reports of serious neurological symptoms such as fits or seizures, impaired concentration or anxiety.

Prof Emma Duncan, senior author of the research, said many children who are infected with the virus have no manifestation of illness at all and are asymptomatic.

“It will be reassuring for families to know that those children who do fall ill with Covid-19 are unlikely to suffer prolonged effects,” she said. “However, our research confirms that a small number do have a long illness duration with Covid-19, though these children too usually recover with time.

Lord Bethell, health spokesman in the Upper House, said: “It’s encouraging to see the condition [long Covid] is uncommon among children and we will continue to provide support to those suffering the long term effects of the virus.”

Dr Michael Absoud, senior clinical lecturer at King’s College London, warned that while the current focus is on Covid-19, other childhood diseases should not be ignored.

“Our data highlight that other illnesses, such as colds and flu, can also have prolonged symptoms in children and it is important to consider this when planning for paediatric health services during the pandemic and beyond,” he said.

The study was published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health.

Experts are desperately trying to define long Covid. In adults, the latest Office for National Statistics data shows 962,000 people have long Covid symptoms lasting more than four weeks.

Imperial College London’s REACT-2 study recently estimated that two million people in England have, at some point, had one or more coronavirus symptoms lasting at least 12 weeks.