NEW DELHI– Children who are reinfected with the virus that causes COVID-19 face more than double the risk of developing long COVID, according to a large U.S. study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
Researchers analyzed health records from more than 460,000 children and adolescents across 40 pediatric hospitals in the U.S., tracking cases between January 2022 and October 2023, a period dominated by the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
They found that after a first COVID infection, about 904 children per million developed long COVID within six months. Following a reinfection, that figure jumped to roughly 1,884 per million.
Children with long COVID were more likely to experience a range of rare but serious conditions, including heart inflammation (myocarditis), blood clots, kidney injury, cognitive issues, fatigue, and respiratory problems.
“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,” said researchers from the universities of Pennsylvania, Iowa, and California. They added that the results show reinfections may contribute to cumulative illness in children, depending on infection history, severity, and vaccination status.
The study emphasized that while vaccines cannot entirely prevent infection, they remain the most effective way to reduce both initial cases and reinfections — lowering the likelihood of long-lasting complications in children.
Public health experts say the findings reinforce the need to expand vaccination coverage among younger age groups and continue developing strategies to identify high-risk subgroups and improve care for children with post-acute COVID conditions. (Source: IANS)
