ANSWERED: Is COVID-19 Harmful to Children?

A Compilation of Peer-Reviewed Medical Research

Oddly enough, you could not find David Zweig or Vinay Prasad or their ilk here. (New York Times)

Good day. If you are reading this, you have likely been sent this link because you were misled into believing that COVID-19 is a harmless, mild "cold" for children. Regardless of who is responsible for feeding you misinformation about this horrible SARS-CoV-2 virus, you deserve accurate and reliable information about a disease that has already killed thousands of American children and disabled countless more.

A growing mountain of evidence, since 2020, has wildly disproven claims about COVID-19 being harmless in kids. We here at the Pandemic Accountability Index have compiled and organized this peer-reviewed medical research as a handy guide to help correct your misconceptions. We hope that this has better informed your perspective, and that you pass this guide along to others.

This resource will be updated regularly as the situation continues to develop.

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Cognitive & Neurological Impairment

• “89% of children with acute SARS-CoV-2 infection (regardless of severity) met clinical criteria for thrombotic microangiopathy” aka clotting disorder (Ash Blood Advances)

• “…severe neurological complications in pediatric patients with the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 occur infrequently but may lead to significant morbidity and mortality…” (Pediatric Neurology)

• Prevalence and co-occurrence of cognitive impairment in children and young people up to 12-months post infection with SARS-CoV-2 (Omicron variant) (Brain, Behavior, and Immunity)

• The long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes of toddlers with SARS-CoV-2 infection in the neonatal period (Italian Journal of Pediatrics)

• Neuroimaging findings in children with COVID-19 infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis (Nature Scientific Reports)

• “…nervous system damage in children with SARS-CoV-2 infection is more significant.” (Frontiers in Pediatrics)

• "At 12 months, 20.3% of COVID-exposed children and 5.9% of the controls received a diagnosis of neurodevelopmental delay" (International Society for Infectious Diseases)

Diabetes

• SARS-CoV-2 Infection and New-Onset Type 2 Diabetes Among Pediatric Patients, 2020 to 2022 (JAMA Network Open)

Heart & Cardiovascular System

• “Blood Vessel Damage in All Children with SARS-CoV-2 Regardless of Disease Severity” (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia)

• “Endothelial hyperinflammation and vasculitis are known hallmarks of acute COVID-19 and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). They are due to the direct effect of the virus on endothelial cells enhanced by pro-inflammatory modulators and may cause venous/arterial thrombosis.” (Metabolites)

• Circulating Activated Platelets in Children With Long Covid: A Case-Controlled Preliminary Observation (Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal)

• Autonomic cardiac function in children and adolescents with long COVID: a case-controlled study (European Journal of Pediatrics)

• Mid- and Long-Term Atrio-Ventricular Functional Changes in Children after Recovery from COVID-19 (Journal of Clinical Medicine)

Immune System

• SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody specificities differ dramatically between recently infected infants and immune-imprinted individuals (Journal of Virology)

• The influence of genetic polymorphisms on cytokine profiles in pediatric COVID-19 (Front Pediatrics)

• Association of COVID-19 with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections in children aged 0–5 years in the USA in 2022: a multicentre retrospective cohort study (Family Medicine & Community Health)

• 40% of children still infectious after symptom resolution (Clinical Infectious Diseases, Oxford)

Long COVID (Disability)

• Long COVID Is Harming Too Many Kids (Scientific American)

• Millions of US Children Experience Range of Long COVID Effects (JAMA)

• “7.2% of [children and young people] consistently fulfil the [Long COVID] definition at 3-, 6-, 12- and 24-months.” (Nature Communications Medicine)

• Distinct pro-inflammatory/pro-angiogenetic signatures distinguish children with Long COVID (Nature Pediatric Research)

• Six-Month Outcomes in the Long-Term Outcomes After the Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (JAMA Pediatrics)

• Long COVID syndrome in children: neutrophilic granulocyte dysfunction and its correlation with disease severity (Nature Pediatric Research)

• “a notable subset of children and adolescents experience prolonged and diverse symptoms following COVID-19 infection” (American Journal of Medicine Open)

• Characterizing Long COVID in Children and Adolescents (JAMA Network)

• Not 'little adults': Experts say long COVID undercounted, misdiagnosed in kids (CIDRAP)

• Postacute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 in Children (American Academy of Pediatrics)

• The double invisibility of Long Covid in children (Social Science & Medicine)

• Understanding Experiences of Youth with Long COVID: A Qualitative Approach (Children, MDPI)

• Long COVID in pediatrics—epidemiology, diagnosis, and management (European Journal of Pediatrics)

• Long-COVID in children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analyses (Scientific Reports)

Lungs & Respiratory System

• “Imaging shows significant lung injury in kids with long COVID” (RSNA Radiology)

• Pulmonary Dysfunction after Pediatric COVID-19 (Radiology, RSNA)

• Bilateral Vocal Cord Paralysis Requiring Long-term Tracheostomy After [adolescent] SARS-CoV-2 Infection (American Academy of Pediatrics)

• “During July–December 2021, after COVID-19 restrictions were removed in England, invasive pneumococcal disease incidence in children <15 years of age was higher” (Emerging Infectious Diseases)

• “COVID-19 was associated with a significantly increased risk for RSV infections among children aged 0–5 years in 2022” (PubMed Central)

MIS-C

• Six-Month Outcomes in the Long-Term Outcomes After the Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (JAMA Pediatrics)

Nose

• Exploring nasopharyngeal microbiota profile in children affected by SARS-CoV-2 infection (Microbiology Spectrum)

Overall Mortality

• Risk Factors for Pediatric Critical COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society)

• 300,000 children in the US have lost a primary caregiver to COVID-19 (Imperial College London)

• Assessment of COVID-19 as the Underlying Cause of Death Among Children and Young People Aged 0 to 19 Years in the US (JAMA Network Open)

Viral Persistence

• Tonsils are major sites of persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in children (Microbiology Spectrum, American Society for Microbiology)

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