Abstract
Background: Long-COVID is a well-documented multisystem disease in adults. Far less is known about long-term sequelae of COVID in children. Here, we report on the occurrence of long-COVID in Dutch children.
Patients and methods: We conducted a national survey asking Dutch pediatricians to share their experiences on long-COVID in children. We furthermore describe a case series of six children with long-COVID to explore the clinical features in greater detail.
Results: With a response rate of 78% of Dutch pediatric departments, we identified 89 children, aged 2-18 years, suspected of long-COVID with various complaints. Of these children, 36% experienced severe limitations in daily function. The most common complaints were fatigue, dyspnea, and concentration difficulties with 87%, 55%, and 45% respectively. Our case series emphasizes the nonspecific and broad clinical manifestations seen in post-COVID complaints.
Conclusion: Our study shows that long-COVID is also present in the pediatric population. The main symptoms resemble those previously described in adults. This novel condition demands a multidisciplinary approach with international awareness and consensus to aid early detection and effective management.
Keywords: TB; infections; pneumonia; viral.
【저자키워드】 Pneumonia, infections, viral., TB, 【초록키워드】 fatigue, pediatric, children, Symptom, Clinical features, COVID, Adults, Case series, management, International, Early detection, Dyspnea, long-COVID, disease, clinical feature, Concentration, response rate, multidisciplinary approach, clinical manifestation, Consensus, limitation, National, approach, effective, Occurrence, greater, described, conducted, case sery, less, nonspecific,