A study today of 1,296 pediatric Italian COVID-19 patients who underwent multiple follow-ups over 2 years shows decreasing rates of long COVID over time. The study is published in eClinicalMedicine and is one of the longest studies conducted on kids with long COVID.
The findings are based on outcomes seen at a single clinic in Rome from January 2020 through February 2024. During follow-up appointments at 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months after a confirmed COVID-19 infection, 23.2%, 13.2%, 7.9%, 6.1%, and 7.1%, were diagnosed as having long COVID, respectively.
During initial COVID infection, 8.6% (114) were asymptomatic and 88.6% (1,169) had mild, 2.2% (29) had moderate, and 0.2% (2) had severe COVID-19. Most children were diagnosed as having COVID-19 when the Omicron variant was prevalent (939, 71.2%). More than three fourths of children (79.6%) were not vaccinated before the infection, while, respectively, 6.2%, 12.6%, and 5.2% of children had received one, two, and three doses of COVID-19 vaccine.
Older age associated with long COVID
Two factors were associated with increased risk of long COVID diagnosis through 18 months: age of 12 years or older (odds ratio [OR], 9.37; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.58 to 8.64) and being infected with the original strain of the virus (OR, 3.52; 95% CI, 1.32 to 8.64) or the Alpha strain (OR, 4.09; 95% CI, 2.01 to 8.30).
Older age and original and Alpha infection were associated with long COVID at 3 months, as was female sex and comorbidities.
Long-COVID diagnosis was considered after continuation or development of new symptoms 3 months after the initial SARS-CoV-2 infection.
COVID-19 vaccines were associated with a lower risk of developing Long Covid particularly in adolescents.
“COVID-19 vaccines were associated with a lower risk of developing Long Covid particularly in adolescents, while re-infections had a minimal burden on most patients, although one case of Long Covid following re-infection was identified,” the authors wrote.
