2025/01/15 by Helena C. Maltezou · 1 voice
Medicine · Neuroscience · Psychology · #COVID-19 and Mental Health #Long-Term Effects of COVID-19 #Vagus Nerve Stimulation Research
paper · pdf · doi:10.3892/wasj.2025.314
openalex publication_date 2025/01/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/03/12
Post‑COVID‑19 syndrome (or long‑COVID) was recognized as a clinical entity as early as in the spring of 2020, when it was documented that a non‑negligible number of patients with COVID‑19 continued to exhibit symptoms several weeks following severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) infection. Although in the beginning of the COVID‑19 pandemic it was considered that almost all SARS‑CoV‑2 infections in children and adolescents were either asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, it was duly noted that children and adolescents may also experience prolonged symptoms and may therefore also manifest post‑COVID syndrome. It was subsequently noted that post‑COVID syndrome in children may involve multiple organs and systems and persist, in the majority of cases, for several months; however, in some cases symptoms persisted even following 1 year of follow‑up. There is also evidence to indicate that children with post‑COVID syndrome are at an increased risk of developing anxiety, depression or loss of appetite, while the overall impact of post‑COVID syndrome on the developmental and psychological domain and overall well‑being of children remains largely unknown. The present review discusses the current state of knowledge on post‑COVID syndrome in children and compares it with that of adults. Issues of pathogenesis, prognosis, the role of vaccination and implications for future research are also discussed.