{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T14:53:36Z","timestamp":1785423216622,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,29]],"date-time":"2021-10-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1635465600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100005375","name":"Latvijas Zin\u0101tnes Padome","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["VPP-COVID-2020\/1-011"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["VPP-COVID-2020\/1-011"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100005375","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Pediatr."],"abstract":"<jats:p><jats:bold>Introduction:<\/jats:bold> The data on long COVID in children is scarce since children and adolescents are typically less severely affected by acute COVID-19. This study aimed to identify the long-term consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children, and to compare the persistent symptom spectrum between COVID-19 and community-acquired infections of other etiologies.<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Methods:<\/jats:bold> This was an ambidirectional cohort study conducted at the Children's Clinical University Hospital in Latvia. The study population of pediatric COVID-19 patients and children with other non-SARS-CoV-2-community-acquired infections were invited to participate between July 1, 2020, and April 30, 2021.<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Results:<\/jats:bold> In total, 236 pediatric COVID-19 patients were enrolled in the study. Additionally, 142 comparison group patients were also enrolled. Median follow-up time from acute symptom onset was 73.5 days (IQR; 43\u2013110 days) in the COVID-19 patient group and 69 days (IQR, 58\u201384 days) in the comparison group. Most pediatric COVID-19 survivors (70%, <jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic> = 152) reported at least one persistent symptom, but more than half of the patients (53%, <jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic> = 117) noted two or more long-lasting symptoms. The most commonly reported complaints among COVID-19 patients included persistent fatigue (25.2%), cognitive sequelae, such as irritability (24.3%), and mood changes (23.3%), as well as headaches (16.9%), rhinorrhea (16.1%), coughing (14.4%), and anosmia\/dysgeusia (12.3%). In addition, 105 (44.5%) COVID patients had persistent symptoms after the 12-week cut-off point, with irritability (27.6%, <jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic> = 29), mood changes (26.7%, <jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic> = 28), and fatigue (19.2%, <jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic> = 20) being the most commonly reported ones. Differences in symptom spectrum among the various age groups were seen. Logistic regression analysis showed that long-term persistent symptoms as fever, fatigue, rhinorrhea, loss of taste and\/or smell, headaches, cognitive sequelae, and nocturnal sweating were significantly associated with the COVID-19 experience when compared with the controls.<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Conclusions:<\/jats:bold> We found that at the time of interview almost three-quarters of children reported at least one persistent symptom, but the majority of patients (53%) had two or more concurrent symptoms. The comparison group's inclusion in the study allowed us to identify that symptom persistence is more apparent with COVID-19 than any other non-SARS-CoV-2 infection. More research is needed to distinguish the symptoms of long COVID from pandemic-associated complaints. Each persistent symptom is important in terms of child well-being during COVID-19 recovery.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fped.2021.752385","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,29]],"date-time":"2021-10-29T05:48:03Z","timestamp":1635486483000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":86,"title":["Comparison of Persistent Symptoms After COVID-19 and Other Non-SARS-CoV-2 Infections in Children"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"9","author":[{"given":"Ieva","family":"Roge","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Liene","family":"Smane","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anda","family":"Kivite-Urtane","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zanda","family":"Pucuka","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Iveta","family":"Racko","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lizete","family":"Klavina","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jana","family":"Pavare","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","unstructured":"COVID-19 Rapid Guideline: Managing the Long-Term Effects of COVID-192020"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"ofaa509","DOI":"10.1093\/ofid\/ofaa509","article-title":"Postacute COVID-19: an overview and approach to classification","volume":"7","author":"Amenta","year":"2020","journal-title":"Open Forum Infect Dis."},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2621","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph18052621","article-title":"Defining post-COVID symptoms (post-acute COVID, long COVID, persistent post-COVID): an integrative classification","volume":"18","author":"Fern\u00e1ndez-de-Las-Pe\u00f1as","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int J Environ Res Public Health."},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"m3026","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.m3026","article-title":"Management of post-acute covid-19 in primary care","volume":"370","author":"Greenhalgh","year":"2020","journal-title":"BMJ."},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1723","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.2020.19719","article-title":"Long-term Health Consequences of COVID-19","volume":"324","author":"Del Rio","year":"2020","journal-title":"JAMA."},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"378","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jinf.2021.01.004","article-title":"Post-acute COVID-19 syndrome. 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