How many children do you know have long Covid

[Baileysforchristmas]

Just wondering how many people on here have experience of children with long Covid?

I know lots of children and adults who have had covid. I know one adult and I know of another adult who have long term complications of covid, no children

@Tealightsandd

Tbh we'll only know the full extent of Long Covid - both in terms of how many suffering, and actual health issues caused - in a few years time.

Until then everyone is a guinea pig.

This is true, and it is also true of lockdowns.

none

I know two children and four adults. I'm a teacher though so probably have context with more than most here.

None. I only know of a handful over three settings (nursery, primary and highschool) that tested positive and only one of those had (mild) symptoms.

I only know one adult who has tested positive. FIL is a teacher so very exposed, he is overweight and diabetic and convinced it would kill him. He tested positive on a LF in January, pre vaccination, and had no symptoms at all.

I’m not a teacher but I work across schools and healthcare settings

I asked because maybe I was being naive re long Covid in children and maybe it’s just not in my area, it’s seems to be quite rare, most children don’t seem to have many symptoms.

I don't know anybody with long Covid, unless you count my tinnitus which is a leftover from the ear infection I had as a secondary infection to Covid.
I know loads of kids who have had Covid, local school is currently closed with cases in every class (literally the whole school has been sent home to isolate, meaning that 200+ families in the village are affected) but I haven't heard of any who have more than very minor symptoms.

I don't know any kids that have even had Covid.

This thread contains anecdotes.

Recent published research in the Lancet (?the best so far) in children 5-17 suggests 1.8% of children have long covid, specifically defined as symptoms lasting longer than 8 weeks.

That is of course a low percentage. Lower than many previous estimates, which fits with people's experiences on this thread ( so the anecdotes fit with the data)

However, a low percentage of a very large number becomes quite a big number, which is how you would get many thousands of children affected. If all the kids 5-17 in the UK were to get covid, and 1.8% went on to get long covid then there would be just under 200k affected, by my reckoning.

Hopefully, that won't happen. However, there are likely to have been thousands affected already (to the extent of symptoms for more than 8 weeks) going by the evidence in the research.

However, people in a low incidence area might not know many children who even got covid. You would be, on balance, unlikely to know a child who had symptoms for more than 8 weeks unless you also knew many dozens of children who had had covid (as only 1.8% have symptoms for that long).

You're right that we don't know how many would have symptoms that persist for longer than 6 months or a year, or how much impact that would have on how people function, which is the important thing.

I don't really like long covid as a term because it is so vague; we don't really understand post-viral syndromes very well.

But I think it merits keeping a watchful eye on how things are going for these poor kids and I'm glad the government has plans for 15 centres to treat them nationwide (you can bet they wouldn't do that unless they thought there was a significant potential issue)

Where are all these people and children who have had Covid?

I live in a big town, and work for the biggest employer in that town, and I don't know anyone who has had Covid.
(I'm not a Covid denier or anything)

I AMA secondary teacher. I've heard of 2.

@MrsFin

Where are all these people and children who have had Covid? I live in a big town, and work for the biggest employer in that town, and I don't know anyone who has had Covid. (I'm not a Covid denier or anything)

I’m in London and dc in three schools I don’t now many. Maybe there was spread pre first lockdown.

Dc friend tested positive recently but asymptomatic.

@MrsFin

Where are all these people and children who have had Covid? I live in a big town, and work for the biggest employer in that town, and I don't know anyone who has had Covid. (I'm not a Covid denier or anything)

Where I live is relatively small, but there was an outbreak at the secondary school here, all the kids were testing twice weekly so there were quite a few had it at the same time, picked up by the tests.

It's weird, so many people I know don't know anyone who has had Covid.
I guess the total, high though it is, is still a relatively small percentage of the overall population, and cases have mostly been in hot spots.

I get why you asked op, but the problem with threads like these and people saying 'I know none' or 'I know 1'

What we don't know is how many people we know who haven't said anything.

Not everybody talks about. In my life, the only people who know my personal health issues are my mum, dad and partner.

I think Covid in children would be talked about especially on here and schools. There is a Facebook page for parents at my daughters school, believe me if children were very ill from Covid you would know. Saying that in my area all schools are open, not one case at my daughter’s school at the moment, it was rife before Christmas so I was wondering if it was just my area.

I know one teen went waiting for consultant appointment, thyroid looks like it has now gone out of whack following Covid at Christmas. Unable to do the sport she loves.

@MrsFin think I depends on area and on luck. I’m in Italy and know many people who have had it, including a couple of fatal cases unfortunately. Of friends and family in the UK, I know one family of four who all had it and my parents. Of those, the mum of the family of four has long Covid, and my dad, although better now, almost had to go on a ventilator, he was in hospital with one of those oxygen helmet thingies.

Wow this is reassuring (especially given my dcs are currently isolating). I know 2 children with long term effects from covid - one with fatigue (preventing attendance at school it's been so bad) who was previously v energetic and one who developed severe squint requiring surgery. Both had v mild initial symptoms. I'm glad my friends children sound like outliers, but i still think we shouldn't be letting it run rampant in schools the way we have.

The people I know talk very freely about kids problems but no-one has said about long covid - getting lots of mental health / SN issues /eating disorders being reported and people have issues with lack of income but covid appears to have been very mild in kids here, many not realising they had it until tested and not heard of any long covid. It was rife here end of Autumn term and mine had 4 weeks of isolations but nothing since end of March. I wonder if they had built up immunity. Think varies by area though. People don't travel much here which may have helped. I think it was rife end of Autumn term as people travelled here to avoid local restrictions and brought it here as it was very low at start of Autumn term then when our 2 nearest areas went into highest level of restrictions and we were low restrictions it suddenly skyrocketed here.

None. Both my kids had Covid. Both completely asymptomatic.

I don't know anyone, adult or child with long covid, nor indeed one single person who has been either hospitalised or anything other than very mildly ill with it.

None