The New York Times reports that children are less likely to develop long COVID-19, but that doesn’t make it impossible.
How often do children get long COVID? The good news is, kids have been shown to recover relatively faster than adults do, according to The New York Times.
- Dr. Alexandra Brugler Yonts, an infectious disease specialist based out of Washington, D.C., told Fortune that around 5% to 10% of kids who have gotten COVID-19 develop long COVID.
- “People are like, ‘Oh, it’s only 5%,’ but we talk about death being 1% and it’s still a big deal,” Brugler Yonts said.
Symptoms: A medical news website cites a study that finds children can suffer the same symptoms of long COVID-19 that adults do.
- Symptoms include chest pains, fatigue, headache, muscle weakness and more. Scientists found that symptoms in some of the children lasted for up to five months.
Testing and treatment: The University of Utah says that there is no specific test to determine whether or not a child has long COVID-19. Doctors will have to test for other things and rule out other possible health conditions.
- CNN reports that when children with long COVID go through a series of tests, it can appear that nothing is wrong with them, despite their symptoms. In adults, it is more likely that something indicating long COVID will show up on tests.
- “We have no idea how long it will last, we don’t know what causes it and we don’t know what the treatment will be other than supportive care and treating your child’s symptoms as best as possible. But there is no cure,” said the University of Utah’s health care website.