Infants suffering from long Covid prone to sleep, appetite issues: US study

Infants under two-years-old, suffering from long Covid are more likely to experience trouble sleeping, fussiness, poor appetite, stuffy nose, and cough, while children aged three to five are more likely to have a dry cough and tiredness, according to a new study in the US.

“Children with these symptoms often had worse overall health, lower quality of life, and delays in development,” co-first author Tanayott Thaweethai, associate director of biostatistics research and engagement at Massachusetts General Hospital, US, said.

Long Covid refers to symptoms that persist well beyond having recovered from an acute COVID-19 infection.

The findings, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics, are the latest from the US National Institutes of Health`s `RECOVER` initiative, aimed at understanding and preventing long Covid.

An earlier analysis by the team in August 2024, found that children aged six to 11 displayed brain- and stomach-related symptoms such as headache, trouble focussing and sleeping, while teenagers experienced a loss of smell and taste, fatigue and physical pain.

Notably, teens were found to display long Covid symptoms more similar to adults — who often report brain fog and fatigue — than to children.

This study is “important because it shows that long COVID symptoms in young children are different from those in older children and adults,” Thaweethai said.

“Infants (or) toddlers (0-2 years) with infection history were more likely to experience trouble sleeping, fussiness, poor appetite, stuffy nose, and cough, and preschool-aged children (3-5 years) were more likely to experience dry cough and daytime tiredness (or) sleepiness or low energy,” the authors wrote.

The researchers examined 472 infants and 539 preschoolers, of which 278 infants and 399 pre-schoolers had previously suffered from COVID-19. The participants were enrolled between March 2022 and July 2024.

Among those with a history of infection, 40 infants (14 per cent) and 61 pre-school children (15 per cent) were identified as having long Covid. Symptoms lasting at least 90 days after COVID infection for both age groups were analysed — 41 symptoms in the infant group and 75 in preschoolers.

Parts of India, including Delhi-NCR, West Bengal and Karnataka, are seeing an uptick in COVID-19 cases, which have been attributed to Omicron sub-variants.

Severity of infections as of now is generally mild and there is no cause for worry, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had said on May 26.

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