Long Covid: Children diagnosed with ME/CFS

Last Updated on December 15, 2024 by Joseph Gut – thasso

December 09, 2024 – Covid-19 (SARS-CoV-2): Many children worldwide are suffering from the consequences of an acute Covid-19 infection in the form of the do-called Long Covid. This article/post is the form of a corresponding article edited by thasso which originally came from the german news station  n-tv.de. The corona pandemic as such is history. But there are still problems with the processing. In particular, the problems of children and young people after corona have hardly been dealt with, especially if they are affected by long-term illness.

But what is Long Covid? Long Covid refers to temporary or permanent health consequences of a SARS-CoV-2 infection. There is no uniform definition to date. An acute Covid-19 illness usually lasts up to four weeks, but it can also last for several months, for example if inpatient treatment in an intensive care unit is required. Longer-term symptoms that persist beyond this period or occur in addition are often referred to as Long Covid (up to 12 weeks) or Post-Covid Syndrome (longer than 12 weeks). The manifestations of Long Covid are very

different. They include a worsening of existing illnesses, newly occurring illnesses, organ damage and post-infectious symptoms. Common symptoms include fatigue (severe exhaustion), post-exertion malaise (deterioration of condition after exertion), disorders of mental performance and autonomous body functions, breathing difficulties and several types of pain. The exact mechanisms of the disease are unknown. Disorders of the immune system, nervous system, blood circulation, metabolism and gastrointestinal tract are described in particular. Treatment depends on the respective manifestations. There is no causal therapy, but some symptoms can be alleviated.

There are various estimates of the spread. Long Covid affects adults more often than children and adolescents. Women are at higher risk than men. Long-term consequences are more common after a severe course of the disease, but can also occur after a mild course or an unnoticed infection. The consequences of the acute corona pandemic are still being felt, although the pandemic as such has been history for a good two years now. But the virus is still there, albeit mainly in mutated and less aggressive forms. People still get sick from it, doc

People are still falling ill with it, and doctors are still recommending booster vaccinations for people who belong to the particularly vulnerable groups. But what have we really learned from the pandemic, the processing of which is progressing very slowly? Both in the medical and social fields? In addition to adults, children also often suffer from the long-term consequences of Covid-19 disease. Many children in the long Covid phase report depressive symptoms, suicidal thoughts, as well as cases of child endangerment and family identity issues. depressive symptoms, suicidal thoughts, we have cases of child endangerment, family identity issues, But children and young people do not only suffer from psychological problems caused by the corona pandemic. It is much worse when children have also become ill. Often incurable and with serious consequences such as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS), which is often also referred to as “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome”, is often caused by a viral infection and studies show that ME/CFS has also become more common since the corona pandemic, especially among young people with long Covid.

The example of the young girl Kalea from Germany may show how ME/CFS can affect a life. She did a lot of sport and enjoyed being with other children. The first problems arose in 2019, her mother says. After an infection with glandular fever. Suddenly Kalea had knee pain and her Achilles tendon became inflamed. Then in winter 2020 she was infected with corona. Kalea became weaker and weaker. She has now been diagnosed with Long Covid and ME/CFS. Kalea has an inflammation in her brain and has not been able to walk for a year. She just lies in bed. If she needs something, she cannot call anyone. She is too weak to do so. She has a bell button on her bed. The 15-year-old has not been able to go to school for a long time. She cannot speak loudly. She is too weak for that either. Even to stand.

While some data suggest that genetic predispositions of individuals could contribute to a full outbreak of Covid-19 (SARS-CoV-2) (thasso has already had a few articles on this topic here, here, here, and here), medical research still knows relatively little about any genetic basis for Long Covid and ME/CFS, especially after a Covid illness. However, there are large-scale studies to find out an individual genetic disposition in the pathogenesis of ME/CFS. Some of these studies show genetic abnormalities that make the manifestation of ME/CFS likely.

Here is a sequence concerned with ME/CFS:

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