Many children suffering ongoing Covid symptoms (RNZ.co.nz, July 6, 2025)
Led by the University of Otago, and published in the
International Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health,
the study surveyed more than 4200 children and young adults aged three to 20 years between November 2022 and April 2023, after the first widespread Covid-19 community transmission in early 2022.
More than 70 percent of participants had a confirmed Covid-19 infection.
A quarter had suffered more frequent coughs, colds and stomach bugs since infection, while one in five reported ongoing symptoms, such as headaches (21.7 percent), fatigue (20.6 percent), stomach aches (14.6 percent) and new anxiety (13.1 percent).
Before Covid-19's widespread arrival, 82.6 percent of children rated their health as "very good" or "excellent" - that number dropped to 66.9 percent after the Omicron variant waves. Children who had Covid-19 were significantly more likely to rate their health as "fair" or "poor", compared to those who did not.
Children with pre-existing conditions, like asthma or ADHD, were more likely to develop post-Covid symptoms, but many previously healthy kids also reported new difficulties, ranging from persistent coughs to concentration problems.
is a fairly small country, 5.6 million. I don't think it's weird that there were weeks when no kids aged 5 to 9 died. If they were not at home, they were probably meeting outdoors. The restrictions meant that infectious diseases other than C19 were also rare. And the
must have stayed calm for whatever reason.
