Long COVID in Kids: How Reinfection Doubles Heart Risks

The study reinforces the importance of COVID vaccination in children and highlights preventive strategies to reduce long-term effects.

Children and teens are twice as likely to develop long COVID after reinfection compared to those who had only a first infection, according to a study by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), published in Lancet Infectious Diseases ().

After reinfection, kids are more likely to experience complications, including doubled risk of blood clots, tripled risk of heart inflammation, and increased chances of irregular heartbeat, kidney damage, and fatigue.

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Analyzing How Re-infection Magnifies Long COVID Risk in Children

“The results of this study further support one of the strongest reasons I give patients, families and physicians about getting vaccinated: More vaccines should lead to fewer infections, which should lead to less long COVID,” said co-author Ravi Jhaveri, MD, Head of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago and Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Researchers analyzed data from electronic health records (EHR) of more than 465,000 children and adolescents from January 1, 2022, to October 13, 2023, when Omicron was the dominant variant. This study is part of the NIH-funded RECOVER Initiative, which includes 40 U.S. children’s hospitals and health institutions and aims to learn about the long-term effects of COVID.

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Evaluating Long COVID Across Diverse Care Settings

The current study is the first and largest longitudinal EHR-based investigation of long COVID following reinfection in children and adolescents.

“The level of coordination, data sharing, and analysis requires massive infrastructure and sustained support,” said senior author Yong Chen, PhD, a Professor of Biostatistics and the Director of PennCIL at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

“Without this investment, we wouldn’t have had access to such a large and diverse pediatric population, nor the capacity to rigorously evaluate long COVID in a way that is applicable across many different levels of care.”

Moving forward, researchers plan to track data on pediatric patients that span longer periods of time, examine whether newer COVID variants change the risk pattern, and explore specific strategies that might help prevent severe long-term effects.

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Lurie Children's Role in Pediatric Education and Advocacy

Dr. Jhaveri holds the Virginia H. Rogers Professorship in Infectious Disease at Lurie Children’s.

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago is a nonprofit organization committed to providing access to exceptional care for every child. It is the only independent, research-driven children’s hospital in Illinois and one of less than 35 nationally.

This is where the top doctors go to train, practice pediatric medicine, teach, advocate, research and stay up to date on the latest treatments. Exclusively focused on children, all Lurie Children’s resources are devoted to serving their needs.

Research at Lurie Children’s is conducted through Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute, which is focused on improving child health, transforming pediatric medicine and ensuring healthier futures through the relentless pursuit of knowledge. Lurie Children’s is the pediatric training ground for Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

It is ranked as one of the nation’s top children’s hospitals by U.S. News & World Report.

Reference:

Long COVID associated with SARS-CoV-2 reinfection among children and adolescents in the omicron era (RECOVER-EHR): a retrospective cohort study - (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(25)00476-1/fulltext)

Source-Eurekalert