{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]],"date-time":"2026-06-24T14:24:35Z","timestamp":1782311075557,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,22]],"date-time":"2025-09-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1758499200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Pediatr."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>Long COVID in children remains a poorly understood condition with wide variability in clinical presentation, duration, and risk factors. <jats:bold>The aim of this study<\/jats:bold> was to assess the prevalence, spectrum, and duration of long COVID symptoms in pediatric patients following acute SARS-CoV-2 infection using a standardized follow-up tool.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>We conducted a prospective cohort study involving 127 unvaccinated children aged 1 month to 18 years with long COVID according to the WHO definition and confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. Participants were followed up at 1\u20133, 3\u20136, 6\u20139, and 9\u201312 months post-infection using an adapted ISARIC Global Pediatric COVID-19 Follow-Up Questionnaire.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Persistent symptoms of long COVID were reported in 85.8% of patients at 3 months, decreasing to 56.1% at 9 months and 32.5% at 12 months. The most common long-term symptoms included fatigue (52.0%), reduced physical activity (44.1%), and headache (35.3%). Multivariable logistic regression showed that older age was significantly associated with a higher risk of decreased physical activity (OR\u2009=\u20091.51, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.038), lack of energy (OR\u2009=\u20092.00, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.003), neurological symptoms (OR\u2009=\u20091.86, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.007), headache (OR\u2009=\u20094.51, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.000), memory impairment (OR\u2009=\u20095.12, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.000), difficulty communicating (OR\u2009=\u20094.28, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.000), difficulty concentrating (OR\u2009=\u20092.74, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.001), cardiological symptoms (OR\u2009=\u20092.34, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.022), sensory symptoms (OR\u2009=\u20092.66, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.011), and dizziness (OR\u2009=\u200910.02, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.034). Younger age was associated with insomnia (OR\u2009=\u20090.49, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.018). Female sex was significantly associated with a greater likelihood of lack of energy (OR\u2009=\u20092.55, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.048). Hospitalization status was only significantly associated with muscle pain, with outpatients more frequently affected (OR\u2009=\u20090.28, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.029).<\/jats:p><jats:p>Overall, 32.5% of all participants continued to experience symptoms of long COVID more than one year acute infection, with fatigue persisting in 19.8%, reduced physical activity in 13.9%, headache in 12.3%.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title><jats:p>Long COVID affects children across all age groups and may persist beyond one year in a significant subset. These findings highlight age- and sex-specific symptom profiles and underscore the need for structured pediatric follow-up.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fped.2025.1645228","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,22]],"date-time":"2025-09-22T15:47:46Z","timestamp":1758556066000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Prevalence and duration of clinical symptoms of pediatric long COVID: findings from a one-year prospective study"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Vita","family":"Perestiuk","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tetyana","family":"Kosovska","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Liubov","family":"Volianska","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Oksana","family":"Boyarchuk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","year":""},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"830","DOI":"10.1126\/science.adl0867","article-title":"Solving the puzzle of long COVID","volume":"383","author":"Al-Aly","year":"2024","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1150","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.2024.13551","article-title":"Uncovering long COVID in children","volume":"332","author":"Rao","year":"2024","journal-title":"JAMA"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"101","DOI":"10.15574\/PP.2023.95.101","article-title":"Long COVID in children: frequency and diagnostic challenges","volume":"3","author":"Volianska","year":"2023","journal-title":"Ukr J Perinatol Pediatr"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"197","DOI":"10.5114\/reum.2021.107590","article-title":"COVID-19 in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis: frequency and severity","volume":"59","author":"Boyarchuk","year":"2021","journal-title":"Reumatologia"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"133","DOI":"10.1038\/s41579-022-00846-2","article-title":"Long COVID: major findings, mechanisms and recommendations","volume":"21","author":"Davis","year":"2023","journal-title":"Nat Rev Microbiol"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"492","DOI":"10.5114\/reum\/176464","article-title":"Autoimmunity and long COVID in children","volume":"61","author":"Boyarchuk","year":"2023","journal-title":"Reumatologia"},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1573","DOI":"10.1111\/apa.16368","article-title":"Comparative study shows that 1 in 7 Spanish children with COVID-19 symptoms were still experiencing issues after 12 weeks","volume":"111","author":"Bergia","year":"2022","journal-title":"Acta Paediatr"},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"102815","DOI":"10.1016\/j.eclinm.2024.102815","article-title":"Characteristics and predictors of long COVID in children: a 3-year prospective cohort study","volume":"76","author":"Camporesi","year":"2024","journal-title":"EClinicalMedicine"},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e2022057798","DOI":"10.1542\/peds.2022-057798","article-title":"Health impairments in children and adolescents after hospitalization for acute COVID-19 or MIS-C","volume":"150","author":"Maddux","year":"2022","journal-title":"Pediatrics"},{"key":"B11","year":""},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1507169","DOI":"10.3389\/fped.2025.1507169","article-title":"Vitamin D status in children with COVID-19: does it affect the development of long COVID and its symptoms?","volume":"13","author":"Perestiuk","year":"2025","journal-title":"Front Pediatr"},{"key":"B13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2263","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(22)00941-2","article-title":"Risk of long-COVID associated with delta versus omicron variants of SARS-CoV-2","volume":"399","author":"Antonelli","year":"2022","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"B14","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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