Long COVID symptoms in exposed and infected children, adolescents and their parents one year after SARS-CoV-2 infection: A prospective observational cohort study.
EBioMedicine
; 84: 104245, 2022 Oct.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2041662
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Long COVID in children and adolescents remains poorly understood due to a lack of well-controlled studies with long-term follow-up. In particular, the impact of the family context on persistent symptoms following SARS-CoV-2 infection remains unknown. We examined long COVID symptoms in a cohort of infected children, adolescents, and adults and their exposed but non-infected household members approximately 1 year after infection and investigated clustering of persistent symptoms within households.METHODS:
1267 members of 341 households (404 children aged <14 years, 140 adolescents aged 14-18 years and 723 adults) were categorized as having had either a SARS-CoV-2 infection or household exposure to SARS-CoV-2 without infection, based on three serological assays and history of laboratory-confirmed infection. Participants completed questionnaires assessing the presence of long COVID symptoms 11-12 months after infection in the household using online questionnaires.FINDINGS:
The prevalence of moderate or severe persistent symptoms was statistically significantly higher in infected than in exposed women (36.4% [95% CI 30.7-42.4%] vs 14.2% [95% CI 8.7-21.5%]), infected men (22.9% [95% CI 17.9-28.5%] vs 10.3% [95% CI 5.8-16.9%]) and infected adolescent girls (32.1% 95% CI 17.2-50.5%] vs 8.9% [95%CI 3.1-19.8%]). However, moderate or severe persistent symptoms were not statistically more common in infected adolescent boys aged 14-18 (9.7% [95% CI 2.8-23.6%] or in infected children <14 years (girls 4.3% [95% CI 1.2-11.0%]; boys 3.7% [95% CI 1.1-9.6%]) than in their exposed counterparts (adolescent boys 0.0% [95% CI 0.0-6.7%]; girls < 14 years 2.3% [95% CI 0·7-6·1%]; boys < 14 years 0.0% [95% CI 0.0-2.0%]). The number of persistent symptoms reported by individuals was associated with the number of persistent symptoms reported by their household members (IRR=1·11, p=·005, 95% CI [1.03-1.20]).INTERPRETATION:
In this controlled, multi-centre study, infected men, women and adolescent girls were at increased risk of negative outcomes 11-12 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Amongst non-infected adults, prevalence of negative outcomes was also high. Prolonged symptoms tended to cluster within families, suggesting family-level interventions for long COVID could prove useful.FUNDING:
Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
COVID-19
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Child
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
English
Journal:
EBioMedicine
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
J.ebiom.2022.104245
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