These factors increase the risk of “long COVID” in children

Post-acute sequelae of COVID-19, also known as post-COVID-19 conditions or long COVID, are a growing cause for concern. Beating COVID-19 is unfortunately no longer limited to surviving the infection, as lingering symptoms like shortness of breath, fatigue, and more can severely hinder one’s quality of life. Children, once erroneously believed to be protected from the worst of COVID-19, have been experiencing more severe disease with the rise of the Omicron variant. One study, published in JAMA, examined the proportion of children who contracted COVID-19 and reported post-COVID-19 conditions (PCC) 90 days after visiting an emergency department. This prospective cohort study ran from March 7, 2020-January 20, 2021, drawing on indexing data from 36 emergency departments (EDs) in 8 countries. The study enrolled 8642 children, and this was narrowed down to 1884 children who contracted COVID-19, had ED indexing data available, and completed a 90-day follow-up. The cohort was 52.8% male, and the average...