Long term symptoms of COVID-19 in 6-year-old
According to 6 year-old Thomas’s mom, Chris Ward, ever since his recovery from COVID-19, he has been “like a six-year-old in a 90-year-old’s body”. He first fell ill in February last year with symptoms of fever, breathlessness and body aches. Thomas had no travel history to COVID-19 struck areas. Doctors diagnosed him with a viral infection and advised him to rest.
However, even a year after the infection, Thomas is still suffering. Doctors performed an antibody test to determine whether he had a past infection. The test results came back positive for COVID antibodies. His temperature soars every 2 to 3 weeks, whereas his glands are constantly enlarged with aggravated body aches [1].
Almost half the children with COVID-19 may suffer from lasting symptoms of long COVID
Symptoms of long COVID were initially thought to be limited to a few symptoms. Including heart palpitations, respiratory problems, insomnia, headache, joint pain, muscle pain and fatigue. Researchers now say that there may be up to a 100 other symptoms. The symptoms include testicular pain, hallucinations, seizures, dizziness, nausea and gastrointestinal problems. Most research, however, is based on adults and there is not much data about under 19-year-olds. This is because getting ethical approval for performing studies in children is a more tedious process and takes longer. Evidence from a study conducted on children concluded that more than half the children between the ages of 6 and 16 years, who contracted the virus had symptoms that lasted for more than 120 days. Whereas normally it takes 12 weeks to recover from the infection [2].
The consequences of the infection can be quite debilitating for children
“Not one has returned to their previous health, and most are unable to do their normal activities,” says UK advocacy group Long Covid Kids founder Sammie Mcfarland.
Paediatricians at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital gave Thomas a likely diagnosis of long COVID, too. He is one of the hundreds of children who are still not back to their full health. The child’s parents feel extremely helpless with how much the long-term symptoms have disrupted their child’s life. According to his paediatrician, “he’s the first child they’ve seen with symptoms lasting so long and the first child they’ve given this diagnosis to.” [1]
The number of children suffering from long-term symptoms of the disease is currently not available because of a lack of data.
References
‘A 6-Year-Old In A 90-Year-Old’s Body’ – The Children Devastated By Long Covid https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/the-children-devastated-by-long-covid_au_6011d074c5b6b8719d897885
Children with long covid https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7927578/
