High Prevalence of Alternative Diagnoses in Children and Adolescents with Suspected Long COVID—A Single Center Cohort Study
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
3. Results
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
Appendix B
Summary of Used Definition | |
AWMF Long COVID [20] |
|
NICE Post COVID [11] |
|
Delphi Post COVID-19 condition [4] |
|
References
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Long COVID | Other Disease | Unclear | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
n = 32 | n = 52 | n = 26 | ||
Male | 13 (41%) | 25 (48%) | 13 (46%) | |
Age (years) | mean (95% CI) | 12.1 (10.9–13.4) | 9.1 (7.5–10.8) | 11.8 (10.1.–13.4) |
met AWMF criteria | 32 (100%) | 0 (0%) | 17 (65%) | |
met NICE criteria | 32 (100%) | 0 (0%) | 17 (65%) | |
SARS-CoV-2 IgG BAU/mL (breakdown into anti-spike(S) and anti-nucleocapsid(N) SARS-CoV-2-IgG was only carried out for vaccinated patients) | mean ± SD IQR | 1194 ± 904 1813 (268–2080) | 1016 ± 950 1974 (106–2080) | 911 ± 964 2013 (67–2080) |
self-reported duration of acute disease (days) | median IQR | 3 3 (2–5) | 4 5 (3–8) | 3 3 (0–4) |
Time from infection to first consultation 6 (days) | mean ± SD | 120 ± 99 | 120 ± 167 | 127 ± 130 |
Number of health care system contacts before presentation | mean (95% CI) | 3.2 (2.6–3.8) | 2.0 (1.7–2.3) | 2.6 (1.5–3.7) |
newly diagnosed somatic disease | total | 4 (1%) | 52 (100%) | 16 (62%) |
SARS-CoV-2 associated diseases 1 | 0 (0%) | 23 (44%) | 0 (0%) | |
autoimmune diseases 2 | 0 (0%) | 3 (6%) | 0 (0%) | |
bacterial infections 3 | 0 (0%) | 5 (10%) | 5 (19%) | |
neuropaediatric diseases 4 | 1 (3%) | 7 (13%) | 3 (12%) | |
bronchial asthma | 5 (16%) | 6 (19%) | 8 (31%) | |
New-onset anaemia | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (0.4%) | |
Others 5 | 0 (0%) | 10 (19%) | 0 (0%) | |
newly diagnosed mental disease | 14 (44%) | 3 (6%) | 12 (46%) | |
psychiatric symptoms | suicidal thoughts | 4 (13%) | 0 (0%) | 3 (12%) |
depression/depressive symptoms | 20 (63%) | 10 (19%) | 12 (46%) | |
SARS-CoV-2 immunisation | at least 1 vaccination | 3 (9%) | 6 (12%) | 7 (27%) |
≥2 vaccinations | 2 (6%) | 4 (8%) | 6 (23%) | |
virus waves | Alpha | 9 (28%) | 16 (31%) | 9 (35%) |
Delta | 5 (16%) | 9 (17%) | 11 (42%) | |
omicron | 18 (56%) | 18 (35%) | 4 (15%) |
Symptom Present | Symptom Leading * | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Long COVID | Other Disease | Unclear | Long COVID | Other Disease | Unclear | ||
n = 32 | n = 52 | n = 26 | n = 32 | n = 52 | n = 26 | ||
Respiratory symptoms | dyspnoea | 12 (38%) | 9 (17%) | 3 (12%) | 8 (15%) | 8 (25%) | 9 (35%) |
exersice intolerance | 25 (78%) | 26 (50%) | 8 (31%) | 12 (23%) | 21 (66%) | 17 (65%) | |
cough | 1 (3%) | 12 (23%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 3 (12%) | |
Neurological symptoms | paresthesias | 21 (66%) | 22 (42%) | 1 (4%) | 0 (0%) | 13 (41%) | 14 (54%) |
dysfunction of smell and taste | 13 (41%) | 1 (2%) | 2 (8%) | 9 (17%) | 1 (3%) | 5 (19%) | |
headaches | 15 (47%) | 9 (17%) | 2 (8%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (3%) | 10 (39%) | |
vertigo | 8 (25%) | 2 (4%) | 1 (4%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 8 (31%) | |
brain fog | 19 (59%) | 7 (13%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (3%) | 12 (46%) | |
fatigue | 9 (28%) | 8 (15%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 10 (39%) | |
sleep disturbance | 12 (38%) | 5 (10%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 7 (27%) | |
Abdominal symptoms | abdominal pain | 7 (22%) | 7 (14%) | 1 (4%) | 0 (0%) | 3 (9%) | 2 (8%) |
diarrhea | 0 (0%) | 1 (2%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (3%) | 0 (0%) | |
General symptoms | thoracic pain, palpations | 17 (53%) | 11 (21%) | 2 (8%) | 3 (6%) | 5 (16%) | 11 (42%) |
hair loss | 1 (3%) | 12 (23%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 11 (21%) | 0 (0%) | |
Flue-like symptoms | 0 (0%) | 8 (15%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 4 (13%) | 0 (0%) | |
exanthema | 0 (0%) | 7 (13%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (3%) | 0 (0%) | |
lymphadenopathy | 0 (0%) | 1 (2%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (3%) | 1 (4%) | |
amenorrhoea | 9 (28%) | 1 (2%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 5 (19%) |
Type of Disease | Specific Disease | n (%) | |
---|---|---|---|
somatic disease | SARS-CoV-2 associated diseases | COVID-19 | 5 (10%) |
rPIMS-TS | 16 (31%) | ||
myocarditis | 2 (4%) | ||
autoimmune diseases | dermatomyositis | 1 (2%) | |
rheumatoid arthritis | 1 (2%) | ||
inflammatory bowel disease | 1 (2%) | ||
infections | pneumonia (bacterial) | 1 (2%) | |
neuroborreliosis | 1 (2%) | ||
EBV infection | 2 (4%) | ||
asymptomatic CMV infection *2 | 1 (2%) | ||
parasitosis | 2 (4%) | ||
localized bacterial infection | 2 (4%) | ||
neuropediatric diseases | neuritis | 1 (2%) | |
Lambert Eaton syndrome/myasthenia | 5 (10%) | ||
migraine | 1 (1%) | ||
pulmonary disease | bronchial asthma | 6 (12%) | |
others | secondary renal hypertension | 1 (1%) | |
ruptured ovary | 1 (1%) | ||
immunodeficiency | 2 (1%) | ||
oncological/hematological disease | 4 (8%) | ||
constipation | 1 (1%) | ||
astigmatism | 1 (1%) | ||
Mental disease | adjustment disorder/somatization disorder | 3 (6%) | |
depression | 1 (1%) |
Cluster | |||
---|---|---|---|
Neurological | Respiratory | Combined * | |
Patients with positive cluster | |||
LC (Ntotal = 32) | 24 (75%) | 21 (66%) | 31 (97%) |
Non-LC (Ntotal = 52) | 10 (19%) | 9 (17%) | 16 (31%) |
Statistical measure | |||
Sensitivity | 0.75 (0.60–0.90) | 0.66 (0.49–0.82) | 0.97 (0.91–1.00) |
Specifity | 0.81 (0.70–0.91) | 0.83 (0.72–0.93) | 0.69 (0.57–0.82) |
Positive predictive value | 0.71 (0.55–0.86) | 0.70 (0.54–0.86) | 0.66 (0.52–0.80) |
Negative predictive value | 0.84 (0.74–0.94) | 0.80 (0.69–0.90) | 0.97 (0.92–1.00) |
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Goretzki, S.C.; Brasseler, M.; Dogan, B.; Hühne, T.; Bernard, D.; Schönecker, A.; Steindor, M.; Gangfuß, A.; Della Marina, A.; Felderhoff-Müser, U.; et al. High Prevalence of Alternative Diagnoses in Children and Adolescents with Suspected Long COVID—A Single Center Cohort Study. Viruses 2023, 15, 579. https://doi.org/10.3390/v15020579
Goretzki SC, Brasseler M, Dogan B, Hühne T, Bernard D, Schönecker A, Steindor M, Gangfuß A, Della Marina A, Felderhoff-Müser U, et al. High Prevalence of Alternative Diagnoses in Children and Adolescents with Suspected Long COVID—A Single Center Cohort Study. Viruses. 2023; 15(2):579. https://doi.org/10.3390/v15020579
Chicago/Turabian StyleGoretzki, Sarah C., Maire Brasseler, Burcin Dogan, Tom Hühne, Daniel Bernard, Anne Schönecker, Mathis Steindor, Andrea Gangfuß, Adela Della Marina, Ursula Felderhoff-Müser, and et al. 2023. "High Prevalence of Alternative Diagnoses in Children and Adolescents with Suspected Long COVID—A Single Center Cohort Study" Viruses 15, no. 2: 579. https://doi.org/10.3390/v15020579
APA StyleGoretzki, S. C., Brasseler, M., Dogan, B., Hühne, T., Bernard, D., Schönecker, A., Steindor, M., Gangfuß, A., Della Marina, A., Felderhoff-Müser, U., Dohna-Schwake, C., & Bruns, N. (2023). High Prevalence of Alternative Diagnoses in Children and Adolescents with Suspected Long COVID—A Single Center Cohort Study. Viruses, 15(2), 579. https://doi.org/10.3390/v15020579