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- Title
Post-COVID-19 condition and persisting symptoms in English schoolchildren: repeated surveys to March 2022.
- Authors
Warren-Gash, Charlotte; Lacey, Andrea; Cook, Sarah; Stocker, Dylan; Toon, Samantha; Lelii, Ffion; Ford, Ben; Ireland, Georgina; Ladhani, Shamez N.; Stephenson, Terence; Nguipdop-Djomo, Patrick; Mangtani, Punam; the COVID-19 Schools Infection Survey 2 Study Group; McClenahan, Elliot; McKay, Gillian; Phelan, Jody; Lin, Liang-Yu; Lewin, Alex; Judd, Alison; Davies, Byron
- Abstract
Background: Both post-COVID-19 condition (long COVID) and the presence of persisting symptoms that do not meet formal definitions of post-COVID-19-condition may adversely affect quality of life and function. However, their prevalence among children and young people in England is unclear. Methods: We used data from repeated surveys in a large cohort of English schoolchildren from the COVID-19 Schools Infection Survey (SIS) for the school year 2021/22 to describe the weighted prevalence of post-COVID-19-condition and compare persisting symptoms between individuals with a positive SARS-CoV-2 test and those with neither a positive test history nor suspected infection. Results: Among 7797 children from 173 schools, 1.8% of primary school pupils (aged 4 to 11 years), 4.5% of secondary school pupils in years 7–11 (aged 11 to 16 years) and 6.9% of those in years 12–13 (aged 16 to 18 years) met a definition of post-COVID-19 condition in March 2022. Specific persisting symptoms such as anxiety or difficulty concentrating were frequently reported regardless of prior infection status and increased with age: 48.0% of primary school pupils, 52.9% of secondary school pupils in years 7–11 and 79.5% in years 12–13 reporting at least one symptom lasting more than 12 weeks. Persisting loss of smell and taste, cardiovascular and some systemic symptoms were more frequently reported by those with a previous positive test. Conclusions: We showed that ongoing symptoms were frequently reported by English schoolchildren regardless of SARS-CoV-2 test results and some specific symptoms such as loss of smell and taste were more prevalent in those with a positive test history. Our study emphasises the wide-ranging impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health and wellbeing of children and young people.
- Subjects
ENGLAND; YOUNG adults; COVID-19 pandemic; SMELL disorders; SCHOOL children; POST-acute COVID-19 syndrome; SECONDARY school students; TASTE disorders
- Publication
BMC Infectious Diseases, 2023, Vol 23, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
1471-2334
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1186/s12879-023-08203-1