Long Covid can Damage Newborns, Study Finds

A large study, one of the first of its kind to include babies and toddlers, found that even the youngest children can have long Covid.

The study, which looked at 44,000 Danish kids from birth to age 14, was released on Wednesday in the journal The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health.

Between January 2020 and July 2021, 11,000 children tested positive for Covid-19.

Symptoms

The kids in the study who had previously tested positive for Covid were more likely to have at least one symptom for two months or longer than the kids who had never tested positive for Covid. Despite the fact that kids can experience headaches, mood swings, stomach issues, and fatigue without Covid.

The study also showed that a third of the children who tested positive for Covid had at least one long-term symptom. It hadn’t been there before they tested positive.

The most prevalent symptoms altered with age. Children under 3 reported stomachaches, rashes, and mood swings. Children between the ages of 4 and 11 have issues with focus and memory. It was fatigue, mood swings, and issues with memory and concentration for the 12 to 14-year-olds.

Complications

Children under the age of 3 seemed to have the most problems compared to those who were not diagnosed with Covid-19. Forty percent of those who tested positive for Covid-19 had symptoms two months later. While only 27 percent of those who did not have Covid did.

 

Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, Denmark, said, “Our results are in line with those of previous studies on long Covid in adolescents”. It showed that even though the chances of children having long Covid are low. It is especially when compared to the control group, it must be recognized and treated

Some experts say that we still don’t know how many kids have long Covid and for how long because there hasn’t been enough research on it in this age group.

A 2021 study showed that more than half of children ages 6 to 16 had at least one symptom. These lasted more than four months.

Some research puts the number of cases in adults at around 30%.

There is no particular testing for Long Covid. Since it can occur even in children who just have a minor incidence of Covid-19, it is unclear which children will actually have it.

The study showed scientists not only what long Covid looks like in kids, but also that even kids who didn’t get Covid felt the effects of the pandemic. Children in this group said they had a few more mental and social problems than kids who had Covid.

A pediatrician, Dr. Michael Absoud statement

Dr. Michael Absoud, a pediatrician who specializes in neurodevelopmental problems but did not work on the study, told the Science Media Center in the UK that he found that fact interesting.

“The most surprising thing about this study is that older children who tested positive for Covid-19 had a better quality of life and less anxiety. This shows that even though Covid’s direct effects on children aren’t too bad, the indirect effects of the pandemic and anxiety-inducing media coverage have had a big effect on them. According to Aboud, society has probably underestimated the pandemic’s long-term consequences on all children. It has also ignored the urgency of restoring health and wellness facilities.

The small percentage of kids who take longer to recover from COVID must still be identified. Moreover, all kids with persistent symptoms, regardless of the etiology, must be assisted, he added.

A pediatric infectious disease expert statement

Dr. Amy Edwards, a pediatric infectious disease expert who runs the long Covid clinic at UH Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, did not work on the study. Further, she said it was important because it shows that some children get long Covid.

She said that she still runs into people who don’t believe in such a thing.

“There is a debate going on in both the medical world and in society about whether all these kids’ headaches, anxiety, stomach aches, and dizziness are caused by Covid. It may be by the stress of the pandemic. Yes, the pandemic had bad effects on children. However, when you add Covid to that, you can see that something is really going on here,” Edwards said.

Recognizing that long Covid can be a problem might get more parents to vaccinate their kids. It is because they don’t get it in the first place. Studies like this might also make parents more aware of signs so they can help their kids if they need it.

“It’s clearly obvious that this is a recurring issue. It has been discovered in studies from several nations. It may affect more children than we initially believed, according to Edwards. “When you consider how many Covid cases there have been, a sizable number of kids are involved. So it’s important to keep spreading the word.”

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