Covid + Kids

"Before she got sick with long COVID, Vivien was at the top of all of her classes at school. She loved playing basketball and netball and running around with her dogs — she'd even take herself for runs around her family's sprawling property in regional New South Wales, just for fun. She's still only 12 but for the longest time Vivien has dreamed of being a vet when she grows up. "And she was so social," her mother Katie says. "My husband and I are both introverts. Not V — she would party every day if she could."

Now, two years since she caught SARS-CoV-2 for the first time, a "good day" for Vivien looks nothing like it used to. She's always exhausted, but her achy limbs might feel less tingly and weak; perhaps her upset stomach is calm, and her brain fog has cleared enough that she can do some school work or call a friend. On a really good day, she can manage a visit with her grandparents, so long as she's prepared to spend the evening in bed."

Researchers found that those with SARS-CoV-2 infections had a 63% increased risk of developing one or more cardiovascular conditions—including arrhythmias, heart inflammation, chest pain, palpitations, and hypertension—compared to those with negative tests and no documented history of SARS-CoV-2 infection. These risks were elevated regardless of whether the patient had a congenital heart defect (CHD).

Young patients with positive SARS-CoV-2 tests had a 17 percent higher risk of developing chronic kidney disease tested at stage 2 or higher, indicating mild kidney damage that still functioned well, and 35 percent higher risk of chronic kidney disease at stage 3 or higher, meaning there is mild to severe damage impacting kidney function, from one month to two years after infection.

Patients who had a positive SARS-CoV-2 test—compared to those with a negative test—had a 25 percent increased risk of developing at least one gastrointestinal symptom or disorder in the post-acute phase, and a 28 percent increased risk in the “chronic phase” from six months to two years after the SARS-CoV-2 test.

Up to 5.8 million [American] young people have long COVID, according to a recent study — and parents like Amanda Goodhart are looking for answers.

She says her 6-year old son Logan caught COVID multiple times. But even months later, his symptoms didn't get better.

"To see him struggle to stay awake, or crying and saying he doesn't feel good, it's heartbreaking, it's demoralizing, because there's not a lot of treatment options," she told CBS News.

Study author Dr. Rachel Gross of NYU's Grossman School of Medicine says one major challenge in tracking the illness is that symptoms can vary.

"Long COVID can look different in different children, that not everybody has the same symptoms and that it can look different depending on when the symptoms start," she says.