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Caring for children, including adolescents, with Long COVID

Although Long COVID appears to be less common in children than in adults, children can develop Long COVID. Recognizing and identifying Long COVID symptoms can be difficult, especially for children. Young children may have even more trouble describing the symptoms or problems they are experiencing. The best way to prevent your child from developing Long COVID is to protect them from getting COVID-19.

Long COVID can affect your child’s daily activities

If your child has Long COVID, it may impact their ability to attend school, complete schoolwork, or participate in other normal activities such as:

Sports and recreational activities Social gatherings or activities (for example, afterschool events) Child care

School administrators, counselors, teachers, and nurses can work with families and healthcare professionals to provide learning or other accommodations for children with Long COVID. Resources are available to you and your child.

Caring for adults with Long COVID

Research shows adults are more likely than children to get Long COVID. Long COVID symptoms and conditions can affect adults’ ability to perform many of their normal daily activities and cause physical, emotional, and financial stress.

The unknown and long-term nature of Long COVID can worsen this stress. Taking steps to understand the patient’s unique experiences might make them feel less isolated.

Long COVID impact

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About Long COVID

Long COVID is defined as a chronic condition that occurs after SARS-CoV-2 infection and is present for at least 3 months. Long COVID includes a wide range of symptoms or conditions that may improve, worsen, or be ongoing.

Most people with Long COVID experience symptoms days after first learning they had COVID-19, but some people who later develop Long COVID do not know when they were infected. People can be reinfected with SARS-CoV-2 multiple times. Each time a person is infected with SARS-CoV-2, they have a risk of developing Long COVID. Long COVID symptoms and conditions can emerge, persist, resolve, and reemerge over weeks and months. These symptoms and conditions can range from mild to severe, may require comprehensive care, and can even result in a disability.

While rates of new cases of Long COVID have decreased since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, it remains a serious public health concern as millions of U.S. adults and children have been affected by Long COVID.

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After a positive test result, you may continue to test positive for some time. Some tests, especially PCR tests, may continue to show a positive result for up to 90 days. Reinfections can occur within 90 days, which can make it hard to know if a positive test indicates a new infection.  Consider consulting a healthcare provider if you have any questions or concerns about your circumstances.

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COVID-19 Vaccines: 2023-2024 Updated, Bivalent, and Original 2023–2024 updated COVID-19 vaccines

As of October 3, 2023, the 2023-2024 updated Novavax vaccine was recommended by CDC for use in the United States.

As of September 12, 2023, the 2023–2024 updated Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines were recommended by CDC for use in the United States.

The 2023–2024 updated COVID-19 vaccines more closely target the XBB lineage of the Omicron variant. We anticipate the updated vaccines will be better at fighting currently circulating variants.

2022–2023 Bivalent vaccines

As of September 11, 2023, the bivalent Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are no longer available for use in the United States.

The 2022–2023 bivalent vaccines were designed to protect against both the original virus that causes COVID-19 and the Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5. Two COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, had developed bivalent COVID-19 vaccines.

Original vaccines

As of April 18, 2023, the original Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are no longer available for use in the United States.

As of May 6, 2023, J&J/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine is no longer available for use in the United States.

Previous COVID-19 vaccines were called “original” because they were designed to protect against the original virus that causes COVID-19.

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