Trial Report Long/post-COVID in children and adolescents: symptom onset and recovery after one year based on healthcare records in Germany, 2024, Ehm

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s15010-024-02394-8

Long/post-COVID in children and adolescents: symptom onset and recovery after one year based on healthcare records in Germany

• Research
• Open access
• Published: 16 September 2024

• (2024)

• Franz Ehm,
• Falko Tesch,
• Simone Menzer,
• Friedrich Loser,
• Lars Bechmann,
• Annika Vivirito,
• Danny Wende,
• Manuel Batram,
• Tilo Buschmann,
• Marion Ludwig,
• Martin Roessler,
• Martin Seifert,
• Giselle Sarganas Margolis,
• Lukas Reitzle,
• Christina Koenig,
• Claudia Schulte,
• Pedro Ballesteros,
• Stefan Bassler,
• Thomas Bitterer,
• Cordula Riederer,
• Reinhard Berner,
• Christa Scheidt-Nave,
• Jochen Schmitt &
• Nicole Toepfner

Abstract
Purpose
Evidence on the incidence and persistence of post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) among children and adolescents is still limited.

Methods
In this retrospective cohort study, 59,339 children and adolescents with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 in 2020 and 170,940 matched controls were followed until 2021-09-30 using German routine healthcare data. Incidence rate differences (ΔIR) and ratios (IRR) of 96 potential PASC were estimated using Poisson regression. Analyses were stratified according to age (0–11, 12–17 years), and sex. At the individual level, persistence of diagnoses in patients with onset symptoms was tracked starting from the first quarter post-infection.

Results
At 0–3 month follow-up, children and adolescents with a previous SARS-CoV-2 infection showed a 34% increased risk of adverse health outcome, and approximately 6% suffered from PASC in association with COVID-19. The attributable risk was higher among adolescents (≥ 12 years) than among children. For most common symptoms, IRRs largely persisted at 9–12 month follow-up. IRR were highest for rare conditions strongly associated with COVID-19, particularly inflammatory conditions among children 0–11 years, and chronic fatigue and respiratory insufficiency among adolescents. Tracking of diagnoses at the individual level revealed similar rates in the decline of symptoms among COVID-19 and control cohorts, generally leaving less than 10% of the patients with persistent diagnoses after 12 months.

Conclusion
Although very few patients presented symptoms for longer than 12 months, excess morbidity among children and, particularly, adolescents with a history of COVID-19 means a relevant burden for pediatric care.

 

Based on health records, pretty much the least reliable source, tainted on purpose by missing and distorted recording. After one year, 4.5 years into it. And not even a whole year for the ME/CFS, which we know they aren't seeing correctly:

Framed entirely as a burden on the health care system. A burden which they aren't carrying, barely even see a fraction of it from over their castle walls.

It would genuinely be hard to find people less apt at handling this. You'd need a kakistocratic system for this, a system built on finding the worst people for the job. And even then, they could only do just as poorly, since they aren't doing anything borderline competent.