Rutgers Health scientists confirmed in a study that young children can develop long COVID, but they experience different symptoms. Rutgers reported their findings in a release.
Over 1,000 children under the age of five were studied, and 677 of them had a positive COVID test in their lifetime. 101 of them were classified as likely experiencing long COVID.
Reported symptoms differed with each age group. Participants two and under with long COVID experienced:
- Trouble going to sleep
- Fussiness
- Loss of appetite
- Stuffy nose
- Coughing
Participants aged 3-5 with long COVID experienced:
- Coughing
- Loss of energy
- Feeling sleepy during the day
The study is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics. The authors hope their findings help physicians diagnose long COVID in children.
Rutgers professor and lead investigator for the Collaborative Long-term study of Outcomes of COVID-19 in Kids (CLOCK), Lawrence Kleinman stated in a release: “The COVID pandemic began with a myth – that children are spared its ill effects. In contrast, many children were sick with COVID, and we now have a new chronic illness emerging. We are working hard to characterize long COVID in children and it will be critical for policymakers to assure that we have adequate resources to support and manage these children now and in the future.”
