Prevalence and risk factors for post-COVID syndrome in children and adolescents

Roxane Dumont, Viviane Richard, Elsa Lorthe, Andrea Loizeau, Francesco Pennacchio, María-Eugenia Zaballa, Hélène Baysson, Mayssam Nehme, Anne Perrin, Arnaud G. L'Huillier, Laurent Kaiser, Rémy P. Barbe Klara M. Posfay-Barbe, Silvia Stringhini and Idris Guessous for the SEROCoV-KIDS group.
A population-based serological study of post-COVID syndrome prevalence and risk factors in children and adolescents.. Nature Communications, doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-34616-8

Summary:

Background: Post-COVID syndrome remains poorly studied in children and adolescents. In this study, we investigated the prevalence and risk factors of paediatric post-COVID in a random sample of the Geneva population, stratified by serostatus.

Methods: Children in the SEROCoV-KIDS cohort study (conducted in the canton of Geneva, Switzerland), aged 6 months to 17 years, were tested for anti-SARS-CoV-2 N antibodies (December 2021-February 2022). At the same time, their parents completed a questionnaire on persistent symptoms (lasting more than 12 weeks) in their children, consistent with post-COVID.

Results : Of the 1034 children tested, 570 (55.1%) were HIV-positive. After adjustment for sex and age, the adjusted prevalence of persistent symptoms in HIV-positive children was 9.1% (95%CI: 6.7;11.8) and 5.0% (95%CI: 3.0;7.1) in HIV-negative children, with an adjusted prevalence difference (ΔaPrev) of 4.1% (95%CI: 1.1;7.3). When stratified by age group, only adolescent girls and boys had a substantial risk of developing post-COVID symptoms (ΔaPrev=8.3%, 95%CI: 3.5;13.5). The risk factors identified for post-COVID syndromes were older age, low socio-economic status and the presence of chronic diseases, particularly asthma.

Conclusions: The results of this study show that a significant proportion of HIV-positive children, particularly adolescent girls and boys, developed persistent symptoms after infection with COVID-19. Although further analysis is required, the growing evidence of paediatric post-COVID encourages early detection and management by primary care.

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