In our latest “Epigenetics and Infectious Diseases” webinar, Dr. Danilo Buonsenso, specialist in children’s infectious diseases, shared important insights about how long COVID affects kids. He explained that early in the pandemic, he started noticing a worrying pattern: children who had been completely healthy were suddenly experiencing ongoing health problems after getting COVID, even when their initial illness was mild.
Buonsenso talked about recent research in adults, which shows that the virus can leave lasting “marks” on the body’s cells, especially those involved in the immune system. These changes may affect how the body handles inflammation, blood vessels, and even aging, and could help explain why some people continue to feel unwell for months or even years after infection.
Dr. Buonsenso then described his own research with children. His team has followed around 2,000 kids after COVID infection and found that about 1 in 4 still had symptoms three months later. Common problems included tiredness and headaches. One notable issue is something called dysautonomia, which affects how the body automatically controls things like heart rate and blood pressure, suggesting that multiple systems in the body may be affected.
To better understand what’s going on, his team looked at changes in proteins and microRNAs. They found signs of ongoing inflammation in children with long COVID. Interestingly, even children who seemed to have fully recovered still showed some of the same underlying changes, suggesting the virus may leave a lasting imprint on the body.
Dr. Buonsenso concluded that long COVID in children is real and has a biological basis. He emphasized that studying it is key to understanding how viral illnesses can have long-term effects.
