Long Covid affects teens and children very differently, new study reveals - here’s everything parents need to know

A new study has revealed the surprising ways Long Covid can affect teens and children differently - these are the symptoms parents should be looking out for.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, lots of research into the effects of Long Covid has been done to better understand the impact it's having on the population. But, most of that research has focused only on adults - until now, that is.

A new study conducted by professors at New York University has just released it's findings after tracking nearly 800 children and over 3000 tweens and teenagers who had previously had COVID to determine how their age groups have been affected by Long Covid.

The results showed some surprising differences in the way Long Covid symptoms manifested in the different age groups.

For the younger children, aged 6 - 11, their Long Covid symptoms most often included sleep problems, having trouble focusing, and experiencing abdominal issues, such as pain, nausea, vomiting and constipation.

However, for tweens and teenagers, aged 12 - 17, their Long Covid symptoms more often included pain, fatigue and a loss of smell or taste.

Rachel Gross of New York University's School of Medicine, who conducted the research, said of the findings that while they challenge the 'misperception that children don’t get Long Covid,' they don't provide any answers as to why the symptoms vary so much between the age groups.

One possible reason, she told New Scientist, could be due to the variations in the different age group's hormonal and immune systems. Or, more simply, as Danilo Buonsenso of the Gemelli University Hospital in Rome added, the older group may just be able to better describe their symptoms to both their caregivers and the researchers than the younger generation.

It is hoped that the new insight into Long Covid symptoms in children and teenagers will help more people who need diagnoses get them in a timely fashion as doctors often rely on a checklist of symptoms, which has not existed for Long Covid in kids until now.

“Doctors like to have scores or more objective criteria, and these kinds of tools are definitely useful to help clinicians to at least recognise a child can have long covid,” says Buonsenso.

If you think your child or teen is suffering from Long Covid, contact your GP for help and advice.

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