Tackling Long Covid Together In Ireland - But Are We?

Suzanne Kenny, a parent and teaching assistant in Co. Down has gathered more than 30,000 signatures for her petition which requests that the government re-think its current contact tracing policy for children. Children are currently permitted to attend school if a close contact (with some exceptions).

Republic of Ireland

An online conference entitled 'Tackling Long Covid Together' was held by APC Microbiome Ireland on Tuesday 28th September. The panel consisted of medical professionals and a Long Covid patient.

Disappointingly no mention was made of Long Covid in children until a question was posed by the LCK Ireland representative.

The reply from a Cork based GP was that "Long Covid is extremely uncommon in children"

It was very frustrating to hear people's concerns being so readily dismissed when we know the reality is there are many families across Ireland effected. GPs spreading this message is likely to lead to even more problems with parents getting believed by their family doctors.

In terms of treatments, worryingly, mention was made of Graded Exercise Therapy, however another medical professional did counter this by urging caution. When concerns were raised by patients about the 'postcode lottery' in terms of accessing an adult Long Covid clinic, the question was asked by one medic as to whether LC clinics were in fact necessary. This suggestion is extremely concerning given that at this point we still have zero Long Covid clinics (or services) for children.

Although patient advocate Tanja Buwalda did a great job of ensuring patients of Long Covid had their voices heard, much of the discussion throughout the conference indicated that some medics in ROI need a better education on the realities of LC and in particular of Long Covid in children.

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.