Kids, Teens Experience Different Set Of Long COVID Symptoms From Adults, Study Finds

NBC News (8/21, Bendix) reports, “A large, national study offers new insights into what [long COVID] looks like in kids and teens, suggesting that they experience a markedly different set of symptoms from adults.” As part of the RECOVER initiative, researchers “asked the caregivers of more than 3,800 children about their kids’ symptoms at least 90 days after COVID,” also surveying “the caregivers of around 1,500 children without a history of COVID” to compare responses. STAT (8/21, Cooney, Subscription Publication) reports the investigators observed “that school-age children (6 to 11 years old) with prolonged symptoms were more likely than uninfected children to experience headaches (57%); trouble with memory, focusing, and sleeping (44%); and abdominal pain (43%) at least four weeks after COVID.” Meanwhile, “infected adolescents (12 to 17 years old) more often had daytime fatigue, sleepiness, and low energy (80%); body, muscle, or joint pain (55%); and trouble with memory and focusing (47%) post-infection than uninfected peers.” The findings were published in JAMA.