What does COVID-19 look like in a three year old?
- Long Covid Kids
- Jan 7, 2021
- 2 min read
Updated: Feb 10, 2021
This three year old boy, who we are calling Joe, is in the 'ongoing symptomatic stage' of COVID-19 and like us, his mum wants other parents to have more awareness of the long-lasting effects of COVID-19.
In October 2020 NICE released guidelines defining the ongoing symptomatic stage of COVID-19 infection.
is defined as;
Signs and symptoms of COVID-19 from 4 weeks up to 12 weeks. NICE
"Our son is 3 years old and has now been poorly for 4 weeks.
I would not have recognised his symptoms as COVID-19, but we found out we had come into contact with a positive infection so we got tested.
Joe had a week of high temperature before testing positive for COVID-19 .
The day after he tested positive for COVID-19 he went on to develop a 'simple' cold. A temperature and cold-like symptoms with a blocked nose initially.
Joe's temperature went up and down, with the highest temperature only 37.8, I feel lucky it wasn't any higher.
His temperature has continued to go up and down throughout the day, every day now for four weeks.
Since COVID-19, his temperature sits at around 37.4 which is not a normal temperature for him at all.
Then once that first stage had passed from day nine he developed;
Rash
Continuous low-grade temperature
Constant fatigue
Bellyache
Neckache
Red ears
Joe's fatigue must be extreme considering my son is usually overly active. It is so unlike him to be this tired and not want to do much apart from rest all the time.
His symptoms come and go.
He has days where he loses his appetite, and then it comes back, and then it goes again.
Joe's ears are constantly red, but doctors can’t see any problems within the ear.
He is constantly putting his hands on his ears and you can see his ears really bother him but he doesn't have the verbal skills to tell me what’s wrong"
Long Covid Kids need your support,
Please sign our petition.
Our Petition Asks the UK government to;
Promptly create an awareness campaign detailing the effects of COVID-19 on children
that informs parents of the Covid symptoms children present with. This should include the criteria for a child to get a test and the long-lasting effects COVID-19 can have on children.
LongCovidKids.org is a parent and patient-led campaign & support group for parents of children with Long Covid. Our story started with a short film on long-lasting symptoms of Covid in children & we are working on The Long Covid Kids Study with PeopleWith
If your child experiences any symptom of illness, it COULD be Covid , and your child should be tested. Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page for more information.
