Scientific Reports (May 2022)

Post-acute COVID-19 outcomes in children requiring hospitalisation

  • Cara J. Bossley,
  • Ema Kavaliunaite,
  • Katharine Harman,
  • James Cook,
  • Gary Ruiz,
  • Atul Gupta

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-12415-x
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 1
pp. 1 – 4

Abstract

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Abstract Post-acute COVID-19 causes long term sequalae in adults. This is less well described in children. We performed clinical assessments on a large cohort of children and young people admitted with a positive SARS-CoV-2 RNA swab. We assessed for symptoms of post-acute COVID-19 syndrome after 4 weeks or more. We found that most (85%) of children made a full recovery following SARS-CoV-2 infection. A small number had symptoms which lasted for more than 4 weeks, most of which had resolved at 3 months. Symptoms included dry cough, fatigue and headache. One patient suffered from anosmia. We conclude that most children and young people do not suffer from past-acute COVID-19 syndrome, and make a full recovery from infection.