TY - JOUR
AU - Stephenson, Terence
AU - Pinto Pereira, Snehal M.
AU - Nugawela, Manjula D.
AU - Dalrymple, Emma
AU - Harnden, Anthony
AU - Whittaker, Elizabeth
AU - Heyman, Isobel
AU - Ford, Tamsin
AU - Segal, Terry
AU - Chalder, Trudie
AU - Ladhani, Shamez N.
AU - McOwat, Kelsey
AU - Simmons, Ruth
AU - Xu, Laila
AU - Fox-Smith, Lana
AU - Shafran, Roz
AU - CLoCk Consortium
PY - 2024
DA - December
TI - A 24-month National Cohort Study examining long-term effects of COVID-19 in children and young people
JO - Communications Medicine
VL - 4
DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s43856-024-00657-x
AB - Background: Some children and young people (CYP) infected with SARS-COV-2 experience impairing symptoms post-infection, known as post-COVID-19 condition (PCC). Using data from the National Long COVID in Children and Young People (CloCk) study, we report symptoms and their impact up to 24-months post-infection. Methods: CloCk is a cohort of CYP in England aged 11-to-17-years when they had a SARS-CoV-2 PCR-test (between September 2020 and March 2021). Of 31,012 eligible CYP 24-months post-PCR test, 12,632 participated (response = 40.7%). CYP were grouped by infection status: ‘initial test-negatives; no subsequent positive-test’ (NN); ‘initial test-negatives; subsequent positive-test’ (NP); ‘initial test-positives; no reported re-infection’ (PN); and ‘initial test-positives; reported re-infection’ (PP). The Delphi research definition of PCC in CYP was operationalised; symptom severity/impact and validated scales (e.g., Chalder Fatigue Scale) were recorded. We examine symptom profiles 24-month post-index-test by infection status. Results: 7.2% of CYP consistently fulfil the PCC definition at 3-, 6-, 12- and 24-months. These CYPs have a median of 5-to-6 symptoms at each time-point. Between 20% and 25% of all infection status groups report 3+ symptoms 24-months post-testing; 10–25% experience 5+ symptoms. The reinfected group has more symptoms than the other positive groups; the NN group has the lowest symptom burden (p &lt; 0.001). PCC is more common in older CYPs and in the most deprived. Symptom severity/impact is higher in those fulfilling the PCC definition. Conclusions: The discrepancy in the proportion of CYP fulfilling the Delphi PCC definition at 24-months and those consistently fulfilling the definition across time, highlights the importance of longitudinal studies and the need to consider clinical impairment and range of symptoms.
PB - Springer Nature
UR - https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/en/publications/8c2044ed-701b-4389-b218-446d18096d56
KW - Coronavirus (COVID-19)
KW - Children, young people and families
ER