![]() Table 1 provides details about persistence of symptoms according to severity and length of follow-up. 41.8% completely recovered, 35.7% had one or two symptoms and 22.5% had three or more (Table S1). Patients were assessed on average 162.5 ± 113.7 days after COVID-19 microbiological diagnosis. After the initial diagnosis of COVID-19, three developed multisystem inflammatory syndrome (2.3%) and two myocarditis (1.6%). Overall, 6 (4.7%) children were hospitalised, and 3 (2.3%) needed paediatric intensive care unit admission. During the acute COVID-19, 33 children (25.6%) were asymptomatic, and 96 (74.4%) had symptoms. Hundred and nine children (84.5%) were interviewed by phone call, and the remaining during outpatient assessment. Six children with severe neurocognitive impairment were excluded due to impossibility to report signs/symptoms included in the survey. One hundred and twenty-nine children diagnosed with COVID-19 between March and November 2020 were enrolled (mean age of 11 ± 4.4 years, 62 (48.1%) female). Gemelli IRCCS-Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (ID 3777), and all participants consented to participate. This study was approved by the Institutional Ethic Committee of the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. All analyses were performed using R version 4.0.3 (R Foundation). Numerical variables were compared using t test or ANOVA and categorical variables with chi-square or Fisher's exact test where appropriate. Participants were categorised into groups according to symptoms status during the acute phase (symptomatic/asymptomatic), need for hospitalisation and time from COVID-19 diagnosis to follow-up evaluation (120 days). Also, investigations were not performed at the moment of the assessment, in order to rule-out other causes, although the survey has a section to ask whether other possible causes have been detected in the meantime. For those assessed in the outpatient settings, the same survey was used and symptoms reported were collected even if not present at the moment of the visit (eg tachycardia). Participants were interviewed by two paediatricians, either by phone or in the outpatient department, from 1 September 2020 to 1 January 2021. Caregivers were interviewed about their child's health using a questionnaire (Appendix S1) developed by the Long COVID ISARIC study group, 4 for evaluation of persisting symptoms. Patients >18 years old or with severe neurocognitive disability were excluded, since this would have not allowed a proper assessment of signs and symptoms included in the survey. Only children with a SARS-CoV-2 infection diagnosed 30 days before the assessment were included. This cross-sectional study included all children ≤18 year old diagnosed with microbiologically confirmed (PCR analysis on nasopharyngeal swab) COVID-19 (through a nasopharyngeal swab from March 2020 to October 2020) in Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. 3 We assessed persistent symptoms in paediatric patients previously diagnosed with COVID-19. 2 To date, data on Long COVID in children are scarce, with the exception of an earlier description of five children with Long COVID in Sweden. 1 A recent large cohort of 1733 patients from Wuhan found persistent symptoms in 76% of patients 6 months after initial diagnosis. There is increasing evidence that adult patients diagnosed with acute COVID-19 suffer from Long COVID initially described in Italy.
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