Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y SIDA (INBIRS), Facultad de Medicina, UBA-CONICET, Paraguay 2155, C1121ABG CABA, Argentina.
Hospital General de Niños Pedro de Elizalde, Av. Montes de Oca 40, C1270 CABA, Argentina.
Int J Infect Dis. 2023 Apr;129:49-56. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2023.01.031. Epub 2023 Feb 2.
Although long COVID-19 is widely recognized in adults, less information is available about this condition in children, especially in developing countries. Here, we studied the long-term symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection beyond 3 months and the associated risk factors in a pediatric population.
This observational study included 639 Argentinian children and adolescents with previously confirmed COVID-19 from June 2020-June 2021 and 577 children without previous COVID-19. Parents completed a survey about symptoms that their child had for >3 months after the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
At least one persistent symptom was observed more frequently in children with previous COVID-19 than in the non-COVID-19 group (34% vs 13%, P <0.0001). SARS-CoV-2 infection increased the risk of headache, dizziness, loss of taste, dyspnea, cough, fatigue, muscle pain, and loss of weight by three- to seven-fold. The loss of smell was only reported in infected children. After controlling for the other variables, older age, symptomatic COVID-19, and comorbidities were independent predictors of long-term symptoms.
One-third of children experienced persistent symptoms after COVID-19. Older age, symptomatic infection, and comorbidities were shown to be risk factors for long COVID-19. Pediatric long COVID-19 is a new condition that requires further investigation.
尽管人们广泛认识到成年人中存在长新冠，但关于儿童中这种病症的信息较少，特别是在发展中国家。在此，我们研究了儿童 SARS-CoV-2 感染后超过 3 个月的长期症状及其相关危险因素。
本观察性研究纳入了 2020 年 6 月至 2021 年 6 月期间 639 名阿根廷有既往确诊 COVID-19 的儿童和青少年，以及 577 名无既往 COVID-19 的儿童。父母完成了一项关于其子女在 SARS-CoV-2 感染确诊后超过 3 个月持续存在的症状的调查。
与非 COVID-19 组相比，既往 COVID-19 儿童更常出现至少一种持续症状（34% vs. 13%，P <0.0001）。SARS-CoV-2 感染使头痛、头晕、味觉丧失、呼吸困难、咳嗽、疲劳、肌肉疼痛和体重减轻的风险增加了三到七倍。只有感染儿童报告嗅觉丧失。在控制了其他变量后，年龄较大、有症状的 COVID-19 和合并症是长期症状的独立预测因素。
三分之一的儿童在感染 COVID-19 后出现持续症状。年龄较大、有症状的感染和合并症是长新冠的危险因素。儿科长新冠是一种新的病症，需要进一步研究。
