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Comparative study shows that 1 in 7 Spanish children with COVID‐19 symptoms were still experiencing issues after 12 weeks
Author(s) -
Bergia María,
SanchezMarcos Elena,
GonzalezHaba Blanca,
Hernaiz Ana I.,
CeanoVivas María,
García LópezHortelano Milagros,
GarcíaGarcía Mª Luz,
JimenezGarcía Raquel,
Calvo Cristina
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
acta paediatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/apa.16368
Subject(s) - medicine , pediatrics , covid-19 , odds ratio , retrospective cohort study , telephone interview , intensive care unit , disease , social science , sociology , infectious disease (medical specialty)
Aim We investigated prolonged symptoms in children after COVID‐19, including the clinical characteristics and risk factors. Methods This multicentre retrospective study focused on 451 children under 18 years old who were diagnosed with symptomatic COVID‐19 between 14 March and 31 December 2020. Persistent symptoms were analysed with a telephone questionnaire by the attending physicians from 1 August to 30 September 2021. A control group of 98 with no history of COVID‐19, who were treated for other reasons, was also included. Results Most (82.0%) of the cases had mild infections that required outpatient care and 5.1% were admitted to the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU). We found that 18.4% had symptoms that lasted 4–12 weeks. There were also 14.6% who were symptomatic for longer than 12 weeks and the odds risks were higher for children aged 5 years or more (OR 3.0), hospitalised (OR 3.9), admitted to the PICU (OR 4.3) and with relatives who were symptomatic for 12 weeks or more (OR 2.8). The controls had similar percentages of prolonged symptoms, despite having no history of COVID‐19, especially those who were older than 5 years. Conclusion This study confirmed that a worrying percentage of children had prolonged symptoms after COVID‐19.