JAMA

Symptoms and effects of Long COVID in children and teenagers

Updated

Abstract

A total of 898 school-age children and 4469 adolescents were included in a study examining prolonged symptoms following SARS-CoV-2 infection.

  • 14 symptoms were found to be more common in both school-age children and adolescents with a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to those without.
  • Additional symptoms were identified specifically in school-age children (4) and adolescents (3).
  • The symptoms affected nearly every organ system and were associated with poorer overall health and quality of life.
  • Distinct symptom clusters were identified, with specific patterns for school-age children and adolescents, suggesting the need for age-specific PASC characterizations.
  • A PASC research index was developed for each age group, highlighting neurocognitive, pain, and gastrointestinal symptoms in school-age children, and changes in smell or taste, pain, and fatigue-related symptoms in adolescents.

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Full Text

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Funding

Competing interests

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Kleinman reported receiving grants from New York University via subcontract of NIH during the conduct of the study; owning shares in Amgen, Regeneron, Sanofi, and GLAXF; and being a member of the board of Dartnet Institute and member of the board of health of Borough of Metuchen, Quality Matters, Inc . Dr Snowden reported serving on a Pfizer COVID-19 advisory board, which ended in November 2023. Dr Milner reported serving on a scientific advisory board for Blueprint Medicine and receiving grants from Pharming. Dr Jernigan reported receiving grants from University of California San Diego OTA during the conduct of the study. Dr Salisbury reported receiving grants from NIH and HRSA and donated funds from Anthem outside the submitted work. Dr Newburger reported receiving grants from Pfizer for an observational study on COVID-19 associated myocarditis, serving on a data and safety monitoring committee for BMS, and serving on an independent events adjudication committee for pediatric apixiban study outside the submitted work. Dr Truong reported being co–principal investigator on a Pfizer-funded study to assess long-term sequalae of vaccine-associated myocarditis. Dr Metz reported being a site principal investigator for Pfizer studies of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in pregnancy, RSV vaccination in pregnancy, and Paxlovid in pregnancy. Dr Dreyer reported receiving grants from NYU Grossman School of Medicine during the conduct of the study. Dr Aschner reported being a stockholder in Gilead Sciences. Dr Bhattacharjee reported serving on an advisory board for Jazz Pharmaceuticals. Dr Werzberger reported receiving funding from Merck for a hepatitis A vaccine immunology study. Dr Zempsky reported affiliations with OmmioHealth, Lundbeck Pharmacueticals, and Editas. Dr Banich reported receiving grants from University of Colorado Boulder during the conduct of the study. Dr Barch reported receiving grants from NIMH and NIDA during the conduct of the study. Dr Bhattacharjee reported consulting for Jazz Pharmaceuticals and Avadel Pharmaceuticals outside the submitted work. Dr Dale reported being a founder of and holding equity in CorTechs Labs, Inc; serving on a scientific advisory board for CorTechs Labs, Inc, Human Longevity, Inc, and the Mohn Medical Imaging and Visualization Centre; and receiving funding through a research agreement with General Electric Healthcare (GEHC). Dr Fair reported being a patent holder for the Framewise Integrated Real-Time Motion Monitoring (FIRMM) software and a cofounder of Turing Medical, Inc. Dr Fiks reported receiving personal fees from Rutgers and salary support from AAP during the conduct of the study; receiving support from American Medical Association for travel and honorarium from Atlantic Health Systems and Boston Medical Center, PCORI, and Emory University; and having a patent for decision support software known as Care Assistant pending. Dr Foulkes reported receiving grants from NIH/NHLBI during the conduct of the study. Dr Gray reported receiving grants from Aelis Farma and personal fees from Indivior and Jazz Pharmaceuticals outside the submitted work. Dr McCulloh reported receiving grants from University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences sub-awardee for the NIH RECOVER grant during the conduct of the study and grants from Merck Foundation for vaccine communication research through the Merck Investigator Studies Program outside the submitted work. Dr McGlade reported receiving salary support from Department of Veteran Affairs outside the submitted work. Dr Neale reported receiving grants from NIH/NIDA during the conduct of the study. Dr Palumbo reported being a member of a data and safety monitoring committee for Gilead and Janssen outside the submitted work. Dr Paulus reported receiving grants from National Institute on Drug Abuse during the conduct of the study, receiving royalties from an article on methamphetamine in UpToDate, and having compensated consulting agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH. Dr Ross reported receiving grants from Nemours Children’s Health-DE NIH RECOVER STUDY during the conduct of the study. Dr Stockwell reported receiving grants from CDC to Trustees of Columbia related to SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination research and service agreement paid to trustees of Columbia for being associate director of pediatric research in office settings from American Academy of Pediatrics outside the submitted work. Dr Teufel reported receiving grants from HRSA and Duke outside the submitted work. No other disclosures were reported.
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