Israeli survey finds about 1 in 10 kids have lingering COVID symptoms
JERUSALEM, Sept 13 (Reuters) – About one in 10 children had symptoms that remained after recovering from COVID-19, though that number dropped by more than half as the months passed, a Health Ministry survey showed on Monday.
Severe illness from the novel coronavirus is most common among adults, but there is a lack of data on the virus’ impact on youths, who are far less prone to serious complications, the ministry said.
It carried out a phone survey in June among 13,834 parents of children aged 3-18 who had recovered from COVID-19, asking if their kids had lingering symptoms, including breathing issues, lethargy and loss of smell and taste.
The ministry said 11.2% of children had some symptoms after recovery. The figure declined to 1.8%-4.6% at six months from acute disease, with older kids suffering more.
The ministry did not make mention of vaccines or their impact. The survey was conducted around the time 12-15 year-old Israelis were just becoming eligible to be vaccinated.
Israel allowed 16-18-year-olds to get the vaccination months earlier.A recent British survey has found that as many as one in seven children may have symptoms linked to the coronavirus months after testing positive for COVID-19.
