School Difficulties and Long COVID in Children and Adolescents, 2026, Reeder, Gross et al.

[SNT Gatchaman]

School Difficulties and Long COVID in Children and Adolescents

Spoiler: Authors

Harrison T Reeder; Lawrence C Kleinman; Melissa S Stockwell; Tanayott Thaweethai; Deepti B Pant; Kyung E Rhee; Terry L Jernigan; Jessica N Snowden; Amy L Salisbury; Patricia A Kinser; Joshua D Milner; Kelan G Tantisira; David Warburton; Sindhu Mohandas; John C Wood; Megan L Fitzgerald; Megan Carmilani; Aparna Krishnamoorthy; Andrea S Foulkes; Rachel S Gross

OBJECTIVE
Pediatric Long COVID (LC) is an infection-associated chronic condition following SARS-CoV-2 infection. While research has begun to elucidate clinical phenotypes, functional impacts are not well described.

METHODS
Cross-sectional data from the NIH-funded Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) pediatric observational cohort was analyzed to assess associations in school-age children (6 to 11 years) and adolescents (12 to 17 years) between LC and caregiver-reported school-related functional outcomes. LC was defined using RECOVER age group-specific symptom-based LC research indices. The primary outcome was worsening of child grades. Secondary outcomes included difficulty paying attention, limited fun with friends, and having an Individualized Education Program (IEP). Using age-stratified analyses, children with and without LC were matched based on age, sex, and dates of infection and enrollment, to estimate risk ratios (RRs) between LC and each outcome.

RESULTS
The cohort included 1,976 children (406 school-age, 1,570 adolescent). 18% of school-age children and 29% of adolescents with LC had reported worsened grades, compared to 7% and 11% without LC, respectively [school-age: adjusted RR 2.18 (95% CI: 1.15-4.11); adolescent: adjusted RR 2.39 (95% CI: 1.86-3.06)]. In both age groups, children with LC were more likely to have difficulty paying attention, limited fun with friends, and IEPs.

CONCLUSIONS
LC in school-age children and adolescents was negatively associated with functional school-related outcomes, including academic performance, attention, and peer interactions. As LC affects a substantial proportion of U.S. children, these findings highlight the urgent need to develop, provide, and evaluate school-related services for children and adolescents with LC.

Web | DOI | PDF | Academic Pediatrics | Open Access

 

[SNT Gatchaman]

In the United States, there have been two competing frames of reference, one urging protection of children from infection and the other warning of learning loss and potential harm to both educational outcomes and social development resulting from school changes. Most research focused on educational and social outcomes has focused on these broad pandemic-related environmental changes, which have highlighted significant achievement gaps between pre- and post-pandemic periods with notable lags specifically in marginalized groups. However, these studies have failed to focus on the adverse long-term effects of the SARS-CoV-2 virus itself on school and social outcomes.

Among school-age children, the proportion of children meeting the LC index threshold whose caregivers reported that grades were worse than pre-pandemic was 18%, compared to 7% in those not meeting the LC index threshold [adjusted RR 2.18, (95% CI: 1.15-4.11)].

Among adolescents, the proportion of children meeting the LC index threshold whose caregivers reported that grades were worse than pre-pandemic was 29% vs. 11% in those not meeting the LC index threshold [adjusted RR 2.39, (95% CI: 1.86-3.06)].

These findings also provide evidence of a key disruption of functional status at critical points in the life course, which have profound implications both for the future health of this generation and for public policy. Efforts are needed to develop and evaluate interventions to mediate these negative effects of LC that could last through adulthood. Ongoing study will be needed to assess future recovery and deterioration of the health, functional, and even economic impacts of LC on children and their families.

 

[Midnattsol]

And preventive measures, right? Right?

 

[rvallee]

And preventive measures, right? Right?

Zero chance of this happening, which only increases the urgency of finding treatments, and that's not happening right now. But it seems that when it comes to public health issues like this, 'urgent' is mostly on a historical time frame, and there is basically no concept of ever bothering to assess why something this big was completely dismissed the whole time despite widespread predictions. Or the fact that it continues to be dismissed despite growing evidence that debunked the initial smug indifference to the possibility that it would even happen.

Not that any of this will happen. There is simply no connection between reality and how any of this is handled by our institutions. Human lives just don't seem all that important. Even taking a strictly economic perspective human "capital" is clearly not worth much either.