Long-lasting Covid symptoms rarer in kids than in adults: New research

London: When Covid-19 arrived, it quickly became clear that older age was the biggest risk factor for developing severe disease. Indeed, there are a few diseases for which age is so clearly the most important risk factor. NHS doctors have seen this daily. There have been over 131,000 UK deaths from Covid-19, but early research (still awaiting review by other scientists) suggests that very few children (fewer than 30 in the UK) have died from Covid-19 or related conditions.

Consequently, children have been regarded as being at low risk. However, as the consensus grows that the virus will become endemic, and with most high-risk people (in rich countries) now vaccinated, questions about how Covid-19 affects children have become prominent. We therefore sought to understand this – particularly in relation to the vast majority of children who do not need hospital care.