LCK In The News

Almost £1 million of funding to the Dorset Post-Covid syndrome service is to be cut. The news has left Weymouth campaigner, Sammie McFarland, founder for the charity Long Covid Kids, dismayed at the decision.
She said: "As Covid infections continue and research confirms that Long Covid can last for years, the removal of local services will create a devastating gap in care".
"Many children are too unwell to travel, leaving them completely isolated. Without proper funding, these young patients face worsening symptoms, increased disability, and a bleak future".
"While there is still much work to be done, these services have laid important foundations that must be built upon, not erased".

There have been cases of teenagers suffering from long Covid for more than two years, researchers have said following the largest study of its kind

Experts said more work is needed to understand why some children still have ongoing health problems two years after the infection.

Campaigners said two years is a “long time in the life of a child”.

Experts highlighted this means that 70% who had long Covid three months after infection had recovered by two years. But 30% had not.

Sammie McFarland, from the charity Long Covid Kids, said: “Two years is a long time in the life of a child. While the study reassures us that most participants recovered within this period, the 30% of children and young people still affected highlights that long Covid remains a significant childhood illness and a pressing concern.
This underscores the urgent need for effective treatments to ease the ongoing burden of this illness. Hormonal factors in symptom persistence require further investigation. Whilst the findings offer hope, they also emphasise the need for continued services, research and collaboration, including voices of lived experience, to ensure no child is left behind. Long Covid Kids remains committed to supporting families and advocating for essential resources.”

Dr Margaret O’Hara, a founding trustee at the charity Long Covid Support, said: “The limitations of this study demonstrate the need for new, good quality prospective research into long Covid in children and young people.
“In the fifth year of the pandemic it is astonishing that the true burden of the damage that has been done, and continues to be done, to our children and young people in the UK has not been firmly established.”

"Far from rare, long COVID in kids is devastating families. Experts say schools can do more to help their students" reports Nicole Karlis.
Sammie McFarland, CEO LCK, stresses that educators’ understanding of Long Covid is crucial. Children dealing with this illness are not only suffering physically but also emotionally, feeling isolated from their friends and missing the joy of school life. The current education system is not designed to support them, and as a result, many children are falling through the cracks.
Jennifer Robertson, Laura Covington and Robin Scott discuss their children's experiences of Long Covid, their health needs and their access to education.

The Dorset Echo reports that our CEO and Founder, Sammie McFarland, is thankful that the provisional decision to not give her charity core participant status in module 8 of the Covid Inquiry has been overturned.
They quote Sammie stating that: "The voices of children and young people with Long Covid have been largely absent from conversations throughout the pandemic, allowing opportunity for misinformation, adding to their burden of stigma" and also that she is "relieved and thankful that Baroness Hallett recognised the importance of giving these doubly affected young individuals the opportunity for effective representation in Module 8 through Long Covid Kids, Bhatt Murphy and our legal team."