December 4, 2024

expert reaction to cohort study of long COVID in children and young people over a two year period

A cohort study published in Communications Medicine looks at effects of long Covid in children and young people over two years. 

Prof Peter Openshaw, Professor of Experimental Medicine and Dr Claudia Efstathiou Research Associate, Imperial College London, said:

“This paper is good news, showing that most young people (aged 11-to-17-years at the time of onset) recover fully from Long COVID by 2 years. One quarter still had symptoms at 3 months, one in ten at a year, but only one in 14 at 2 years.

“The findings mirror what we’ve seen in adults. For example, females at higher risk of long COVID, and those with more episodes of COVID are more likely to be affected. Those in the most economically deprived quintile were three times more likely to be unvaccinated compared to those in the least deprived quintile, and deprivation was a risk factor for Long COVID.

“The large UK study adds to our understanding of post-COVID conditions, highlighting that there’s a subset of children and young people who still have symptoms 2 years after COVID. This group warrants further study and support.”

Dr Nathan Cheetham, Senior Postdoctoral Data Scientist in the Department of Twin Research, King’s College London, said:

“The higher likelihood of long COVID among children and young people in England’s most deprived neighbourhoods’ echoes similar trends seen among adults in previous research. The trends in long COVID by deprivation in the study were also seen whether or not the young person’s first infection was before or after the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccinations.

“This study again shows that health conditions like long COVID tend to affect the most disadvantaged in society, both young and old.

“These results reinforce the need to address the underlying causes of ill health, such as poor housing conditions, financial stress and unequal access to health care services, if we want to shift focus towards preventing illness before inequalities such as those found in this study arise.”

‘Long-term effects of Covid-19 in children and young people: A 24-month national cohort study’ by Terence Stephenson et al. was published in Nature Communications Medicine at 10:00am UK time on Wednesday 4 December.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43856-024-00657-x

Declared interests

Prof Peter Openshaw and Dr Claudia Efstathiou: We have been funded by vaccine manufacturers and have served on scientific advisory boards to those working on vaccines for respiratory viruses (PO). Prof Peter Openshaw is a Trustee of the Science Media Centre.

Dr Nathan Cheetham: No declarations of interest