Post-Covid-19 condition (Long Covid) in children and young people 12 months after infection or reinfection with the Omicron variant: a prospective observational study

Snehal M. Pinto Pereira; Manjula D. Nugawela; Terence Stephenson; Paul Foret-Bruno; Emma Dalrymple; Laila Xu; Elizabeth Whittaker; Isobel Heyman; Tamsin Ford; Terry Segal; Trudie Chalder; Shamez N. Ladhani; Anna A. Mensah; Kelsey McOwat; Ruth Simmons; Roz Shafran; Marta Buszewicz; Esther Crawley; Shruti Garg; Dougal Hargreaves; Anthony Harnden; Michael Levin; Vanessa Poustie; Malcolm Semple; Kishan Sharma; Bianca De Stavola; Olivia Swann

doi:10.1038/s41598-024-60372-4

Post-Covid-19 condition (Long Covid) in children and young people 12 months after infection or reinfection with the Omicron variant: a prospective observational study

Snehal M. Pinto Pereira^*, Manjula D. Nugawela, Terence Stephenson, Paul Foret-Bruno, Emma Dalrymple, Laila Xu, Elizabeth Whittaker, Isobel Heyman, Tamsin Ford, Terry Segal, Trudie Chalder, Shamez N. Ladhani, Anna A. Mensah, Kelsey McOwat, Ruth Simmons, Roz Shafran^*, Marta Buszewicz, Esther Crawley, Shruti Garg, Dougal HargreavesAnthony Harnden, Michael Levin, Vanessa Poustie, Malcolm Semple, Kishan Sharma, Bianca De Stavola, Olivia Swann

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Our previous study in children and young people (CYP) at 3- and 6-months post-infection showed that 12–16% of those infected with the Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant of SARS-CoV-2 met the research definition of Long Covid, with no differences between first-positive and reinfected CYP. The primary objective of the current study is to explore the impact of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 infection on young people 12 months post infection. 345 CYP aged 11–17 years with a first laboratory-confirmed infection with the Omicron variant and 360 CYP reinfected with the Omicron variant completed an online questionnaire assessing demographics, symptoms, and their impact shortly after testing and again at 3-, 6-and 12-months post-testing. Vaccination status was determined from information held at UKHSA. Comparisons between groups were made using chi-squared, Mann–Whitney U, and Kruskal–Wallis tests. The most common symptoms in first-positive and reinfected CYP 12-months post-testing were tiredness (35.7 and 33.6% respectively) and sleeping difficulties (27.5 and 28.3% respectively). Symptom profiles, severity and impact were similar in the two infection status groups. Overall, by 12-months, 17.4% of first-positives and 21.9% of reinfected CYP fulfilled the research consensus Long Covid definition (p = 0.13). 12-months post Omicron infection, there is little difference between first-positive and reinfected CYP with respect to symptom profiles and impact. Clinicians may not therefore need to consider number of infections and type of variant when developing treatment plans. Further studies are needed to assess causality of reported symptoms up to 12-months after SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Original language	English
Article number	9957
Journal	Scientific Reports
Volume	14
Issue number	1
Early online date	30 Apr 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-60372-4
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 30 Apr 2024

Keywords

Long Covid
Omicron
Post Covid-19 condition
Prospective
Young people

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1038/s41598-024-60372-4

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Pinto Pereira, S. M., Nugawela, M. D., Stephenson, T., Foret-Bruno, P., Dalrymple, E., Xu, L., Whittaker, E., Heyman, I., Ford, T., Segal, T., Chalder, T., Ladhani, S. N., Mensah, A. A., McOwat, K., Simmons, R., Shafran, R., Buszewicz, M., Crawley, E., Garg, S., ... Swann, O. (2024). Post-Covid-19 condition (Long Covid) in children and young people 12 months after infection or reinfection with the Omicron variant: a prospective observational study. Scientific Reports, 14(1), Article 9957. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-60372-4

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title = "Post-Covid-19 condition (Long Covid) in children and young people 12 months after infection or reinfection with the Omicron variant: a prospective observational study",

abstract = "Our previous study in children and young people (CYP) at 3- and 6-months post-infection showed that 12–16% of those infected with the Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant of SARS-CoV-2 met the research definition of Long Covid, with no differences between first-positive and reinfected CYP. The primary objective of the current study is to explore the impact of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 infection on young people 12 months post infection. 345 CYP aged 11–17 years with a first laboratory-confirmed infection with the Omicron variant and 360 CYP reinfected with the Omicron variant completed an online questionnaire assessing demographics, symptoms, and their impact shortly after testing and again at 3-, 6-and 12-months post-testing. Vaccination status was determined from information held at UKHSA. Comparisons between groups were made using chi-squared, Mann–Whitney U, and Kruskal–Wallis tests. The most common symptoms in first-positive and reinfected CYP 12-months post-testing were tiredness (35.7 and 33.6% respectively) and sleeping difficulties (27.5 and 28.3% respectively). Symptom profiles, severity and impact were similar in the two infection status groups. Overall, by 12-months, 17.4% of first-positives and 21.9% of reinfected CYP fulfilled the research consensus Long Covid definition (p = 0.13). 12-months post Omicron infection, there is little difference between first-positive and reinfected CYP with respect to symptom profiles and impact. Clinicians may not therefore need to consider number of infections and type of variant when developing treatment plans. Further studies are needed to assess causality of reported symptoms up to 12-months after SARS-CoV-2 infection.",

keywords = "Long Covid, Omicron, Post Covid-19 condition, Prospective, Young people",

author = "{Pinto Pereira}, {Snehal M.} and Nugawela, {Manjula D.} and Terence Stephenson and Paul Foret-Bruno and Emma Dalrymple and Laila Xu and Elizabeth Whittaker and Isobel Heyman and Tamsin Ford and Terry Segal and Trudie Chalder and Ladhani, {Shamez N.} and Mensah, {Anna A.} and Kelsey McOwat and Ruth Simmons and Roz Shafran and Marta Buszewicz and Esther Crawley and Shruti Garg and Dougal Hargreaves and Anthony Harnden and Michael Levin and Vanessa Poustie and Malcolm Semple and Kishan Sharma and {De Stavola}, Bianca and Olivia Swann",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2024.",

year = "2024",

month = apr,

day = "30",

doi = "10.1038/s41598-024-60372-4",

language = "English",

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Pinto Pereira, SM, Nugawela, MD, Stephenson, T, Foret-Bruno, P, Dalrymple, E, Xu, L, Whittaker, E, Heyman, I , Ford, T, Segal, T, Chalder, T, Ladhani, SN, Mensah, AA, McOwat, K, Simmons, R, Shafran, R, Buszewicz, M, Crawley, E, Garg, S, Hargreaves, D, Harnden, A, Levin, M, Poustie, V, Semple, M, Sharma, K, De Stavola, B & Swann, O 2024, 'Post-Covid-19 condition (Long Covid) in children and young people 12 months after infection or reinfection with the Omicron variant: a prospective observational study', Scientific Reports, vol. 14, no. 1, 9957. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-60372-4

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T1 - Post-Covid-19 condition (Long Covid) in children and young people 12 months after infection or reinfection with the Omicron variant

T2 - a prospective observational study

AU - Pinto Pereira, Snehal M.

AU - Nugawela, Manjula D.

AU - Stephenson, Terence

AU - Foret-Bruno, Paul

AU - Dalrymple, Emma

AU - Xu, Laila

AU - Whittaker, Elizabeth

AU - Heyman, Isobel

AU - Ford, Tamsin

AU - Segal, Terry

AU - Chalder, Trudie

AU - Ladhani, Shamez N.

AU - Mensah, Anna A.

AU - McOwat, Kelsey

AU - Simmons, Ruth

AU - Shafran, Roz

AU - Buszewicz, Marta

AU - Crawley, Esther

AU - Garg, Shruti

AU - Hargreaves, Dougal

AU - Harnden, Anthony

AU - Levin, Michael

AU - Poustie, Vanessa

AU - Semple, Malcolm

AU - Sharma, Kishan

AU - De Stavola, Bianca

AU - Swann, Olivia

PY - 2024/4/30

Y1 - 2024/4/30

N2 - Our previous study in children and young people (CYP) at 3- and 6-months post-infection showed that 12–16% of those infected with the Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant of SARS-CoV-2 met the research definition of Long Covid, with no differences between first-positive and reinfected CYP. The primary objective of the current study is to explore the impact of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 infection on young people 12 months post infection. 345 CYP aged 11–17 years with a first laboratory-confirmed infection with the Omicron variant and 360 CYP reinfected with the Omicron variant completed an online questionnaire assessing demographics, symptoms, and their impact shortly after testing and again at 3-, 6-and 12-months post-testing. Vaccination status was determined from information held at UKHSA. Comparisons between groups were made using chi-squared, Mann–Whitney U, and Kruskal–Wallis tests. The most common symptoms in first-positive and reinfected CYP 12-months post-testing were tiredness (35.7 and 33.6% respectively) and sleeping difficulties (27.5 and 28.3% respectively). Symptom profiles, severity and impact were similar in the two infection status groups. Overall, by 12-months, 17.4% of first-positives and 21.9% of reinfected CYP fulfilled the research consensus Long Covid definition (p = 0.13). 12-months post Omicron infection, there is little difference between first-positive and reinfected CYP with respect to symptom profiles and impact. Clinicians may not therefore need to consider number of infections and type of variant when developing treatment plans. Further studies are needed to assess causality of reported symptoms up to 12-months after SARS-CoV-2 infection.

AB - Our previous study in children and young people (CYP) at 3- and 6-months post-infection showed that 12–16% of those infected with the Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant of SARS-CoV-2 met the research definition of Long Covid, with no differences between first-positive and reinfected CYP. The primary objective of the current study is to explore the impact of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 infection on young people 12 months post infection. 345 CYP aged 11–17 years with a first laboratory-confirmed infection with the Omicron variant and 360 CYP reinfected with the Omicron variant completed an online questionnaire assessing demographics, symptoms, and their impact shortly after testing and again at 3-, 6-and 12-months post-testing. Vaccination status was determined from information held at UKHSA. Comparisons between groups were made using chi-squared, Mann–Whitney U, and Kruskal–Wallis tests. The most common symptoms in first-positive and reinfected CYP 12-months post-testing were tiredness (35.7 and 33.6% respectively) and sleeping difficulties (27.5 and 28.3% respectively). Symptom profiles, severity and impact were similar in the two infection status groups. Overall, by 12-months, 17.4% of first-positives and 21.9% of reinfected CYP fulfilled the research consensus Long Covid definition (p = 0.13). 12-months post Omicron infection, there is little difference between first-positive and reinfected CYP with respect to symptom profiles and impact. Clinicians may not therefore need to consider number of infections and type of variant when developing treatment plans. Further studies are needed to assess causality of reported symptoms up to 12-months after SARS-CoV-2 infection.

KW - Long Covid

KW - Omicron

KW - Post Covid-19 condition

KW - Prospective

KW - Young people

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DO - 10.1038/s41598-024-60372-4

M3 - Article

C2 - 38693285

AN - SCOPUS:85191728486

SN - 2045-2322

VL - 14

JO - Scientific Reports

JF - Scientific Reports

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M1 - 9957

ER -

Post-Covid-19 condition (Long Covid) in children and young people 12 months after infection or reinfection with the Omicron variant: a prospective observational study

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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