(NEXSTAR) – A study of 3,065 children who tested positive for COVID-19 in England found as many as 1 in 7 of them were still experiencing symptoms 15 weeks later.
The study was conducted in England by University College London and Public Health England, according to Reuters. Researchers compared about 3,000 11- to-17-year olds who tested positive for COVID-19 with a control group of about 3,700 who tested negative.
Fifteen weeks later, Reuters reports, about 14% of those who tested positive were still suffering three or more symptoms.
Common long-haul symptoms the preteens and teenagers were feeling included fatigue and persistent headaches, British media reported. In the control group of teens who tested negative, about 7% described experiencing similar symptoms.
While children are less likely to get severe cases of COVID-19 when compared to adults, more research is needed when it comes to long COVID.
This most recent study out of England isn’t far off from another batch of data from the UK Office of National Statistics released in February, which found 13% of children ages 12 to 16 years old had lingering symptoms five weeks after their initial diagnosis. (It was closer to 10% for younger kids, 2 to 11 years old.)
The same study found adults were more likely to experience long-lasting symptoms. About 25% of people surveyed between 35 and 69 years old still had symptoms five weeks after diagnosis.
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