By Mylène for #ApresJ20
Long Covid Children in France
France does not officially recognise Long Covid in children yet so unlike the UK, USA, Switzerland and Spain, there is no comprehensive care centre in France for paediatric cases.
Long Covid in adults and recently PIMs (MIS-C) are recognised now and benefit from the guidelines in our country.
There are no shortage of testimonies on Long Covid in children however, and families meet up in a Facebook support group with more than 1500 members
Families struggle to find appropriate help.
Paediatricians and family doctors know little about the disease or believe that it only affects adults. The children concerned often have psychosomatic diagnoses.
Fortunately, a few French doctors are interested in Long Covid in children and have succeeded in conducting interesting research on the similarities between the hypometabolic brain profiles of adults and children with long Covid
The same team also found a prevalence of 16.8% of children still showing symptoms one year after the initial infection https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/apa.16071
The association #ApresJ20 Covid Long France defends the interests of all French Covid Long patients, whether they are adults or children.
A new page dedicated to LCK has just been published on the association's official website here https://www.apresj20.fr/le-covid-long-pediatrique
LongCovidKids.org is a patient-led advocacy and support organisation led by Sammie Mcfarland for families of children with Long Covid. Our story started with a short film on the long-lasting symptoms of Covid in children.
We are supporting research with The Long Covid Kids Study with PeopleWith
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If your child experiences any symptoms that indicate they are unwell, it COULD be COVID-19, and you should get them a test to help identify if it is a current Covid infection. Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page for more information.