80,000 children suffering from long covid according to The Times

[TheOnlyKoiInAPondOfGoldfish]

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/forgotten-children-living-long-covid-s0c6z0f20?shareToken=6c717c513ba7b50cbe110801c4fd27f8

I'm on the app so unable to copy text - but it seems that according to the ONS 13-15% of children who caught COVID still have symptoms over 5 weeks later, some of them life changing.

Hmm. 5 weeks. Lots of viruses take at least that to get over. Post viral fatigue or coughs are common with most viruses. Certainly my own child has suffered the after effects of a virus for upto 2 months in the past. I would have thought long covid would be more like still suffering symptoms after 5 months not a few weeks.

Long cocid is just post viral syndrome... people really need to realise how common this is with any virus... long covid was used as a tactic by the government to scare the public when compliance was becoming an issue. .

I have to agree with the others, my little boy took 6-8 weeks to be fully better after Scarlett Fever. No long term effects, just took those weeks to get his full energy back. Saying 5 weeks to get over Covid doesn't seem particularly concerning to me

My 11 year old has some long term smell changes- could be described as “life changing” if you wanted to be dramatic. But in reality she isn’t affected in a bad way.
More scare mongering.

5 weeks isn’t long covid, 5 weeks is just getting ver a nasty virus.

I had flu in my 20s when I was fit and healthy and I was extremely ill. It took me 6 months to a year to get back to normal. I was unwell for months afterwards, quite common after a serious virus.

@Chatterbox1987

Long cocid is just post viral syndrome... people really need to realise how common this is with any virus... long covid was used as a tactic by the government to scare the public when compliance was becoming an issue. .

A couple of things. Yes, you can suffer long terms effects after a lot of viruses, but luckily kids get vaccinated against the vast majority of illness likely to leave them with long term effects. Obviously not yet the case with covid.

Ds has been ill with long covid for almost a year now, so to hear it dismissed as a scare tactic comes across as particularly ridiculous. Do you realise it’s not all about you, and some obsession with curtailing your freedom, but that people who are suffering with this do need awareness and help? It’s thankfully rare in children, but if you and your child had been dealing with this for a year, I seriously doubt you’d have such a flippant attitude.

Why is there such a problem with seeing news like that and thinking “ah that sounds tough for them,” and moving on with your day rather than rolling out shitty “government stealing our freedom!” bullshit?

The Times source for the figure looks to be a campaign group, with no evidence in the article of the basis for the figure provided, nor any assessment of possible numbers of children/young people with any, mild or more serious ‘long’ symptoms.

The 80,000 figure isn’t ONS. The ONS % estimate is for ANY symptom, 5 weeks on.

Long covid is a trash term, this is just what covid does and we will see more of this over the coming years. May be if mumsnet didnt delete my threads from back in March, many here would already have been aware of what this virus can do and will do.

We can’t bang on about the importance of children being in schools and then dismiss it when tens of thousands of them have their education compromised due to post-viral effects.

long covid was used as a tactic by the government to scare the public when compliance was becoming an issue

What absolute bullshit.

Well Long Covid is post viral syndrome. I too had flu in my twenties which took 6 months to get over. Considering Covid has only been around for just over a year, how long is Long Covid?

I’m a retired hospital doctor who has been ill with long Covid for almost a year. I can assure the doubting PPs that it is indeed real. We are setting up long Covid support clinics all over the country.
In my own case, I have permanent breathlessness at 100 yards, having been previously fit, and frequent relapses of severe fatigue, accompanied by muscle aches and coughing. Other patients have suffered headaches, memory impairment, loss of concentration, disordered taste/smell, night sweats, insomnia and cardiac dysrhythmias.
Denial of reality is a coping mechanism for people who are frightened of Covid and would prefer to pretend it is a minor illness with no consequences. Sadly, denial is ineffective once you are ill and disabled.

@TaxTheRatFarms because it is a scare tactic... do you not realise its only ever bought up when infections start to increase and the government panic.... ifnit was not a scare tactic they would call it post viral syndrome... which it is.... a few years ago my daughter had a cough that lasted for months and months... was told it was just viral (100 day cough or something like that) and we just got on with our lives.... to say that 15% of kids that catch end up with long term if life changing illnesses is frankly ridiculous... although of course I have sympathy for your child if they have been majory effect... however like absolutely any other virus it can happen.

@Babdoc

No Chatterbox it’s not a scare tactic and it’s not “only brought up” when infections rise - it’s here everyday for people who are suffering from it. You just have the luxury of not being aware of it every single day.

And while I’d agree that it’s a post viral syndrome (I mean, that’s literally what the words mean), it doesn’t just cause fatigue for a while after, or a bit of a cough, it’s inflammatory system responses, flare ups, pain. And yes, other illness can cause these, but kids are vaccinated against the vast majority, even flu, so it won’t happen in as large numbers as is happening with covid.

But as usual, it’s a tough call.
Do I believe chatterbox on the internet who thinks it’s a scare tactic because that lets them believe that their life can get back to normal quicker, or ds’s consultant who appears to be quite knowledge about illness and long covid? I’m flummoxed here, I really am.

There are apparently 4 different groups of things that are classed as long covid

The first is just an ongoing of symptoms for a long while. They get better over a few months

The second is similar to other post viral symptoms which no one understands but many people do recover over time

Then there is physical damage caused by the virus... damage to lungs , kidneys , brain . That's pretty scary stuff

The fourth group are those that were in ICU, symptoms can include mental health problems . These are symptoms that any ICU patients tend to get

Anyway grouping them all under long covid is probably not helpful if they are all the first group. That's not a major health crisis

DS (then 9) was unusually hit hard by something viral in Dec 19. Week off school (unheard of for him) but took weeks to really be himself again rather than basic function and a couple of months to get his full energy back which just about brought him to lockdown #1

Whatever it was it was a post-viral fatigue. Was it Covid? Who knows. I ended up giving up trying to get hold of the GP afrer 35+ attempts. It did have some features of Covid including the cyclical type recovery, and it has been traced back into the UK community that far back, but no data about previlence, but there certainly was a spate of unusual repiritory illness at the time. Equally many illnesses have overlapping characteristics.

Lumping 80,000 people together is not helpful when the majority are still a bit under the weather for several weeks afterwards as is a normal range of illness, and the more severe ongoing complications. Serious complications of Covid are far more common in the older age groups now being vaccinated rather in healthy young people.

Research into Long Covid is helpful and hopefully will improve understanding of other post-viral conditions that have always been neglected and often dismissed.

We might finally lift restrictions. Quickly! Thrust Long Covid back into the spotlight until we can dig up another variant.

Yes MaxNormal the recent focus on long covid is all about removing your, MaxNormal’s personal freedom! We’ve been rumbled!! It’s not actually anyone trying to raise awareness so, god forbid, people suffering from this can get more help, is it!

That fact that you can read someone’s kid has been ill with it for a year, and your response is all about yourself and some shit conspiracy theory - brilliant.

NICE guidelines :www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng188

"To develop the recommendations, we have used the following clinical definitions for the initial illness and long COVID at different times:

Acute COVID-19: signs and symptoms of COVID-19 for up to 4 weeks.

Ongoing symptomatic COVID-19: signs and symptoms of COVID-19 from 4 to 12 weeks.

Post-COVID-19 syndrome: signs and symptoms that develop during or after an infection consistent with COVID-19, continue for more than 12 weeks and are not explained by an alternative diagnosis.

In addition to the clinical case definitions, 'long COVID' is commonly used to describe signs and symptoms that continue or develop after acute COVID‑19. It includes both ongoing symptomatic COVID‑19 and post‑COVID‑19 syndrome (defined above)."

Clearly there are some people suffering with severe symptoms for longer than 12 weeks but 'long covid' also includes people who have 'signs and symptoms' 4-12 weeks later and these can be quite mild. I think there needs to be more of a distinction made between the groups. 80,000 children are not going to have long-lasting, damaging effects but some will and it is important to be able to distinguish them from the others.

I think these guidelines for long covid are correct

www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng188/documents/final-scope

x post!

Post viral complications have long been known. Perhaps this will stop the pressure on workplaces and schools in expecting people to return too early.
I was always under the impression that Viruses such as glandular fever can lead to long term conditions which is why it's important to not rush back to full time school.