Washington, August 22 (QNA) - Scientists, from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), investigating long COVID in youth found similar but distinguishable patterns between school-age children (ages 6-11 years) and adolescents (ages 12-17 years) and identified their most common symptoms.

Teenagers were more likely to report low energy or fatigue, while children were more likely to report headaches.

The researchers identified 18 prolonged symptoms that were more common in school-age children, including headache, trouble with memory or focusing, trouble sleeping, and stomach pain. In adolescents, 17 more common symptoms were identified, including daytime tiredness/sleepiness or low energy, body, muscle, or joint pain, headaches, and trouble with memory or focusing.

"Most research characterizing long COVID symptoms is focused on adults, which can lead to the misperception that long COVID in children is rare or that their symptoms are like those of adults," said David Goff, M.D., Ph.D., division director for the Division of Cardiovascular Sciences at the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

"Because the symptoms can vary from child to child or present in different patterns, without a proper characterization of symptoms across the life span, it's difficult to know how to optimize care for affected children and adolescents," he added. (QNA)