“Correcting revisionist history: ‘COVID is not a problem for young people in the US’
Covid responsible (not ‘with’, underlying cause) for 2% of all deaths <20. That's 1 out of every 50 deaths of all kids who die. #1 in infectious diseases, 5th in disease overall…”
COVID-19 deaths created 300,000 American orphans, 330,000 if we count "primary caregivers" and 380,000 if we count "secondary caregivers". That's a lot of childhood harm.
2x as common for Black kids 4x as common for Indigenous kids 1.6X as common for Hispanic kids”
Thread:
“CogIt started when my brain gave out on me in algebra class one January day in 2022. I couldn’t figure out a simple math problem; all I saw were numbers and symbols. My eyelids drooped, my head hurt, I could barely stay awake. Something wasn’t right. I hadn’t felt like myself since getting COVID-19 a couple weeks earlier. Simple tasks like reading a text or standing up were draining. But what happened in that classroom scared me. At age 14, my life became a state of constant exhaustion, punctuated by doctors’ visits that, months later, would lead to a Long COVID diagnosis.”
From a study of 84 children (age: 6–16) within 6 months after being tested positive for COVID-19, "Compared with the control group, the COVID group in the post-COVID condition had more severe symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity-impulsivity, opposition, a wide range of emotional and behavioral problems, and poor school functions, school attitude, social interaction, school behavioral problems, and interaction problems with their parents. Compared with the pre-COVID condition, the COVID group had greater severity of inattention, somatic complaints, thought problems, internalizing problems, poor school functions, and interaction problems with their parents in the post-COVID condition.. a significant link [was identified] between SARS-CoV-2 infection and various post-COVID mental health sequelae in children, including behavioral/emotional and social adjustment challenges."
“Evidence is growing that while children have a lower rate of severe acute illness from COVID-19, lingering effects after even seemingly mild cases are impacting millions of children and teens. Between 1 in 5 and 1 in 10 pediatric infections — including both asymptomatic cases and those that are severe — are followed by long COVID symptoms, per a recent JAMA study.
That’s as many as 6 million U.S. children. And research suggests the risk rises with repeat infections. Meanwhile, symptoms can last three years or more
“In the most expansive study of its kind, researchers have for the first time shown serious and prevalent symptoms of #LongCovid in kids and teens.
The study, which followed 5367 children, found that 20% of kids (ages 6-11) and 14% of teens met researchers' threshold for LC”
