Almost 3% of 11-18 year olds are affected by Covid symptoms which persist long after the illness in the UK. It is a study carried out on a large scale by three organisations: the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, the British Health Agency and the Office of Statistics. They analyzed more than 6,000 questionnaires submitted to school and college principals, parents or children. Result: only 1% of children aged 5 to 11 suffered from a long Covid and 2.7% of 11-18 year olds. All these children and adolescents were not hospitalized, they contracted a rather mild form of the disease.
To define long Covid, the authors of the study used three criteria: you must have a positive test, continuous symptoms over a period of at least 12 weeks and be affected in your daily life by this or these symptoms. In the list there are sore throats, palpitations, pimples, diarrhea, bad mood, loss of taste, smell, memory. In all, 28 symptoms are referenced.
Loss of taste and smell are essential criteria. It is all the interest to cross several criteria, in particular that of the impact on daily life, because the British have noticed that fatigue or recurring headaches are quite frequent, including in children who do not had not caught the Covid. The only significant symptoms they detected only in positive children was the loss of taste and smell, combined or not.
Conclusion of one of the authors of this study, Professor Russell Viner, quoted by the Doctor’s Daily : “We have always known that there are few children and adolescents affected by a long Covid, These data are very useful to confirm that this is a reassuring small group.
These English researchers observed a long link between mental health and Covid, in particular among primary school pupils between 4 and 11 years old. Almost a third of those who were affected by a long Covid also suffered from a mental disorder: hyperactivity, behavioral problem, emotional disorders. But because the children involved were not seen before they had Covid, researchers could not determine whether the mental disorder is a cause or an effect of long Covid.