SINCE children appear to be less at risk of severe Covid-19 than adults, those who do develop the disease may not receive as much attention from researchers and the media.
Yet some of these children have become “long haulers” who experience symptoms months after they first contracted SARS-CoV-2.
Some studies have argued that children have a lower riskTrusted Source of developing severe Covid-19 — the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 — than adults.
Reports indicate that, in most cases, children who contract the new coronavirus develop mild-to-moderate symp-tomsTrusted Source or remain asymptomatic.
However, in some extreme cases, they may develop multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C)Trusted Source or pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome (PIMS), as some experts refer to it.
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According to existing data, MIS-C/PIMS can become apparent at 2–6 weeks after a SARS-CoV-2 infection, and some of the symptoms that can accompany it include:
In most cases of Covid-19 in children, symptoms should typically improve and then disappear altogether after a couple of weeks from symptom onset.
Yet some children experience ongoing symptoms weeks or even months after their initial illness — a phenomenon commonly referred to as “long Covid.”
How do ongoing symptoms of Covid-19 actually impact the day-to-day lives and well-being of the children and adolescents who experience them?
To answer this and many other questions, Medical News Today spoke to the parents of children and teens with long Covid.
In this Special Feature, we present, at length, the stories of four parents whose children still experience debilitating symptoms.
These parents spoke to us about the difficult journey towards securing an accurate diagnosis, and the often fruitless search for formal support.
For an informed medical perspective on long Covid, MNT sought the expertise of Dr. Amanda Morrow, rehabilitation physician.
