Research studies long-term effects of covid-19 on children and adolescents

pandemic

Research seeks to find out whether vaccines are effective for post-illness symptoms or long Covid

Researchers at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), in the United States, are studying vaccination against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, and its long-term protections. Vaccination, according to scientists, has a stronger effect on teenagers, who have a higher risk of developing post-Covid symptoms or long Covid than young children.

Although the overall severity of Covid-19 has been lower in children than in adults, the burden of post-Covid symptoms has been difficult to describe due to the diversity of symptoms. Some symptoms include brain fog, dyspnea, gastrointestinal dysfunction, generalized pain, and fatigue, while others are more serious, such as an inflammatory reaction or heart problems.

“To date, no study has evaluated clinical data from large, diverse groups of children to address this important question,” said lead study author Hanieh Razzaghi. “Using clinical data from all healthcare networks allowed us to have a sufficient sample of patients to identify rare effects of the virus and its impact on children and adolescents.”

Researchers analyzed results from a collaboration with American health systems as part of the initiative Researching covid to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) of the US National Institutes of Health, which was created to learn about the long-term effects of Covid-19.

Data from 17 health systems in the country were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the long-term Covid-19 vaccine in two groups of patients aged between 5 and 11 years and 12 and 17 years, as well as the period in which patients were affected. The vaccination rate among the people studied was 67%.

“This study provides us with important data demonstrating the protective effects of the long-acting Covid-19 vaccine and suggests that this protection results mainly from the prevention of visible infections. We hope this means that as vaccines are improved to be more effective against current types of SARS-CoV-2, their protection against long-term Covid-19 will also improve.”

said one of the study’s authors Charles Bailey.

“These retrospective data provide guidance for further research into how long Covid develops and how we can better protect children and adolescents,”

adds Bailey.

This study was supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH) as part of the research program Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER).

*With information from Correio Brasiliense

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