‘Thousands of Israeli children suffer long Covid-19 symptoms’

Jerusalem, September 14

A total of 11.2 per cent of Israeli children who recovered from Covid-19 suffered long-term symptoms, revealed a survey issued by its Ministry of Health.

The researchers examined post-acute sequelae of Covid-19 (PASC), or “long Covid”, among 13,834 parents of children aged 3-18 who had recovered from the coronavirus, and found that 11.2 per cent of the recovered children in Israel had long-term symptoms, Xinhua news agency reported.

They also noted that the chance of having long-term symptoms grows with the age of the child.

Thus, 1.8 per cent of children aged 3-6 years had long-term symptoms six months after recovery, compared with 4.6 per cent among age of 12 to 18.

A correlation was found between symptomatic Covid-19 illness and the possibility of suffering long-term symptoms.

Among adolescents aged 12-18 who were symptomatic patients, 5.6 per cent had long Covid, compared with 3.5 per cent among those who were asymptomatic when tested positive.

A similar picture was also seen in other age groups, the ministry reported.

More than a third of the children included in the survey had experienced an exacerbation of neurological, cognitive, or mental symptoms, such as sleep disorders or concentration difficulties, compared to the period before infection. —IANS

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