Child Opportunity Index and Unexpected Risk of Long COVID in Children

A total of 194 pediatric long COVID patients were analyzed, with a mean age of 12.8 years.

• Patients were predominantly female (57%) and mostly non-Hispanic white (63%).
• The majority of patients resided in very high-opportunity areas, with few in low-opportunity areas.
• Spatial hotspots for pediatric long COVID were found in urban and suburban regions, particularly in parts of Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC.
• Cold spots were identified in rural and exurban areas.
• These patterns may indicate disparities in access to specialty care and reflect differences in disease burden.

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