The COVID-19 “long haul” phenomenon occurs in children and adolescents when...

With reopening of schools around the world wreaking havoc on the spread of COVID-19, Facebook groups and breaking articles feature the stories of children and teenagers who continue to be widespread and frequent weeks to months after an initial COVID-19 infection have debilitating symptoms.

In May, adults reported persistent and sometimes debilitating symptoms weeks to months after their first COVID-19 infection. They gathered on social media and called themselves “long distance drivers”. They called for the disease to be recognized by the scientific community and published a patient-led research paper on the disease.

Formal research on long-haul drivers is sparse, and there are few studies and surveys of long-haul pediatric drivers that catch on.

Research to date on post-viral disease following previous viral outbreaks such as SARS suggests that approximately 5 to 10 percent of infected adults may experience expanded symptoms. Data from an Italian study published in JAMA showed that only 12.6 percent of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 said they were symptom-free after 60 days.

The CDC also released results of a survey of symptomatic adults who had a positive ambulatory test result for COVID-19, which showed that 35 percent of participants had not returned to their baseline 2-3 weeks after testing. Doctors from a hospital in Paris, France recently reported seeing around 30 long-haul planes a week as of mid-May. All of the above studies showed that even those with no prior health problems who had mild initial infections can become long-distance riders.

The evidence in children is only anecdotal, but at a time of rapidly evolving, unprecedented pandemic, this type of evidence should not be ruled out. The first murmur of prolonged COVID-19 symptoms in adults was discussed on Facebook groups that swelled quickly and contained collective membership in the tens of thousands.

In the Facebook group “COVID-19 Long-Haulers Discussion Group” – a group with 9,600 members – parents take part in a thread about long-distance symptoms in their children. The discussion thread has hundreds of comments where parents describe their children’s symptoms and offer advice to others.

Parents share a sense of helplessness when they watch their children grow weak and stop participating in activities they once loved. Others describe watching their children faint from low blood pressure or cry from new fear. Below are some comments from different mothers that shed light on the struggle with this phenomenon. Their names have been removed for privacy reasons.

• “My two children and I had symptoms after COVID. Fever, sore throat, GI problems, pain, exhaustion. Third month now; [my kids] start having more energy and less fever, but they still have symptoms. “
• “My daughter has been sick for almost three months. The GI problems and the fear are the worst part. I just don’t know how to help her. She just turned nine. “
• “Two of my children have long-distance problems. They are eleven and eight years old and they both now have hypoglycemia problems and are tired all the time. You seem pale to me. My eight year old told me today that his neck and shoulders were sore, and he sometimes felt a sharp pain in his brain. My heart is breaking because I’ve had long-distance symptoms too and I know how he feels and I don’t want him to feel anything like that. “
• “My daughter has lost 30 pounds, she has heart problems, she has joint swelling and pain, she spends four hours a week in therapy, she has weird infections, she fights fatigue every day, she has brain fog. I just found out yesterday that she has a weak heart with a consistently fast heart rate. She just wasn’t the same. “
• “My child couldn’t believe that all the little kids were going to school this morning. She started to cry for them. She doesn’t understand why the children go to school when they can end up like them. I wonder how many kids are like ours? Not much mention of them. All you ever hear is [covid is] not so bad for kids. “

One recently New York Times Article profiles a 12-year-old girl who contracted COVID-19 in March and is still experiencing symptoms. It describes chest pain, tiredness, dizziness and difficulty concentrating. While she is now attending a few personal classes at school, she cannot walk her usual 15 block walk and still does not have the energy for after-school activities that were once loved. The same article tells the story of a 19-year-old former college track and cross-country runner who still has severe breathing difficulties and a 14-year-old girl who is struggling with severe fatigue New York Times“The future doesn’t look too bright for me personally.”

The concept of viral infections that cause chronic or post-viral disease is not new. Previous studies of diseases like SARS and Epstein-Barr show long periods of recovery that sometimes lead to lifelong chronic illness. While it’s too early to say exactly what long-distance riders are suffering from, some doctors agree that the clinical course appears to reflect conditions such as postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) and myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome (ME / CFS) .

POTS is a dysregulation of the body’s ability to coordinate the act of squeezing blood vessels and the heart rate response. As a result, blood pressure cannot be kept stable and the heart compensates for this. It often strikes quickly to raise blood pressure, especially when changing position. This can be a chronic condition of varying severity from which the worst people rely on wheelchairs.

ME / CFS is a disabling and complex disease that requires a lot more research. It appears to affect all body systems and is life changing and confines many to bed for months to years. There is no known cure, and symptoms are large and varied, including fatigue, brain fog (forgetfulness, difficulty concentrating, difficulty finding words), and chronic pain.

Both states, especially ME / CFS, are often written off as psychological states. Patients are sent home with prescriptions for anti-anxiety medication and are told that it’s all in their heads. Those who seek second opinions or repeat visits to the doctor are fined or classified as drug addicts. Many in the chronic disease community refer to this rejection by medical professionals as “medical gas light,” and studies show that it can cause trauma or even medical PTSD in some patients. Medical gas lighting is also a common experience among long-distance drivers.

The stories of families and children dealing with persistent COVID-19 symptoms are even more heartbreaking in the context of new data released by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The October 19 report revealed two particularly important dates that run counter to the lies of the mainstream media and government officials that COVID-19 is not harmful to children.

The report’s results show that children account for approximately 10.9 percent of all COVID-19 cases, a number that includes a total of 741,000 recorded positive test results since January. This result is derived from data from 49 states as well as New York City, Washington DC, Guam, and Puerto Rico. The results also show that 84,319 new child cases were reported from October 1 to October 15, representing a 13 percent increase in child cases over two weeks.

Limitations on this data collection included different definitions of “child” in each state between 0-14 years and 0-20 years. In addition, there is no universal, national format or metrics for reporting COVID-19 cases, so these vary significantly from state to state. The lack of adequate testing, especially at the start of the pandemic, also skews the data and leads to an underestimation of the infections.

American Academy of Pediatrics data continues to show low child mortality rates. According to this report, 120 children have died from COVID-19. However, COVID-19 deaths in all age groups are unlikely to be adequately reported.

Any death or child suffering from a chronic illness is unacceptable. Both are tragedies that could have been avoided through online learning, proper personal protective equipment for teachers, prolonged shutdowns, and a rational, science-based approach to school reopening.

The drive to reopen schools is part of a global campaign by the ruling elite – both Republicans and Democrats – to reopen schools and accelerate the spread of the pandemic in the name of “herd immunity”. The Democratic Party and its supporters in the teachers’ unions fully support the campaign to reopen schools. Its only difference from the Trump administration is that, instead of using blunt force, it makes the fraudulent claim that cosmetic security measures can be used to “safely” reopen schools.