SARS-CoV-2 reinfection may double risk of long Covid in children: Study
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New Delhi: Children who are reinfected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, face nearly twice the risk of developing long Covid, according to a large study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
The research, which examined data from more than 460,000 children and adolescents across 40 pediatric hospitals in the US, found that about 904 children per million developed long Covid within six months of their first infection. After reinfection, the number rose to roughly 1,884 per million.
Children with long Covid were more likely to experience rare but persistent conditions, including myocarditis (heart inflammation), blood clots, kidney injury, respiratory problems, fatigue, and cognitive difficulties.
“These findings add to previous evidence linking pediatric long Covid to multisystem effects and highlight the need to promote vaccination in younger populations and support ongoing research to better understand post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (long Covid), identify high-risk subgroups, and improve prevention and care strategies,” researchers from the universities of Pennsylvania, Iowa and California said. They stressed the importance of further research to identify high-risk groups and improve prevention and care strategies.
The study analyzed electronic health records between January 2022 and October 2023, during the period dominated by the omicron variant. By comparing outcomes from children’s first and second documented Covid infections, the researchers were able to assess the risks of reinfection.
They noted that while vaccines and preventive measures cannot completely eliminate the risk of infection, they remain the most effective way to reduce the likelihood of both initial and repeat infections, and thereby lower the risk of long Covid in children.
“The growing frequency of SARS-CoV-2 reinfections in the omicron era underscores the need to understand their long-term consequences,” the researchers added, warning that reinfections may contribute to cumulative illness among children and adolescents.