Long-Covid nel bambino e nell'adolescente: virus, salute mentale e pandemia

Abstract

Long-Covid is a typical condition of adults with a history of probable or confirmed SARS-Cov-2 infection in the previous 3 months with symptoms that last over 2 months and are not explained by an alternative diagnosis. Studies in paediatric age are heterogeneous and show a prevalence of long-Covid from 4% to 66%. The most frequent symptoms in children and adolescents are somatic symptoms and this raises the question whether they are not specific symptoms due to SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, in some cases they are due to the consequences of the pandemic (restrictions, uncertainty and lockdown). The lack of signifi-cant differences of the reported symptoms in seropositive and seronegative students sug-gests that long-Covid-19 might be less common than previously thought and emphasizes the impact of pandemic-associated symptoms as to the well-being and mental health of young adolescents. A targeted approach to functional rehabilitation becomes necessary and should include a psycho-relational evaluation and investigate the presence of a psychiatric comorbidity as well.