Long-Haul Covid Symptoms Now Hitting Those Under 20 In US

Families whose children are afflicted are plunged into a terrifying maze of symptoms that come and go, and have no knowable end point.

One of the few statistical comforts of the otherwise nightmarish Covid-19 pandemic - that it largely spares young people - is fading: The long-haul symptoms that have stricken many U.S. adults are now hitting those under 20. A relatively small but increasing percentage of children are struggling for months with extreme fatigue, rapid heart rate, memory loss, depression and other symptoms. In one sign of their growing numbers, the UH Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland is opening a Long Haul Clinic just for young people, the first of its kind in the country. Families whose children are afflicted are plunged into a terrifying maze of symptoms that come and go, and have no knowable end point. Katie Krol, 42, got the virus from a co-worker at a Michigan engine plant in March 2020 and brought it home to her two youngest children. All three continue to suffer. "This has turned their lives inside out," Krol said. "Doctors are saying in six months or in 12 months they will be better. The fallacy that kids don't get this is so frustrating."