What does long COVID look like in young children?

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2025-05-28 01:00

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US scientists have characterised the symptoms of long COVID in early childhood, and say the condition differs between kids aged up to two years and those aged between three and five. Kids two and under were more likely to experience trouble sleeping, fussiness, poor appetite, stuffy nose, and cough, while kids aged three to five were more likely to experience dry cough and daytime tiredness/sleepiness or low energy, the scientists say. These symptoms are also different than those seen in older children and adults in previous studies, they say. The study included 472 children under two years old, and 539 aged between three and five.

Media release

From: JAMA

Characterizing Long COVID Symptoms During Early Childhood

About The Study: This cohort study identified symptom patterns and derived research indices that were distinct between the 2 age groups (infants/toddlers [0-2 years] vs preschool-aged children [3-5 years]) and differed from those previously identified in older ages, demonstrating the need to characterize long COVID separately across age ranges.

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Research JAMA, Web page The URL will go live after the embargo ends

Journal/
conference: JAMA Pediatrics

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: NYU Grossman School of Medicine, USA

Funder: This research was funded by National Institutes of Health agreements OT2HL161841, OT2HL161847, and OT2HL156812. Additional support came from grant R01 HL162373 from the National Institutes of Health.

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