A study presented at the virtual European Respiratory Society International Congress has suggested that COVID-19 infection may not impair the lung function of children and adolescents.

Researchers also noted that even patients with asthma did not have a statistically significant decline in lung function. However, these patients did show slightly lower measurements for forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1). Another study presented at the conference revealed that the lung function in children and adolescents appeared not to be impaired after COVID-19 infection, except for those who developed a severe infection. Of the 661 young individuals with an average age of 22 years included in the first study, 178 had antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, suggesting that they had been infected. Investigators assessed the changes in lung function between the period before and during the pandemic and compared the percentage change with participants who had not been infected. The lung function was found to be similar regardless of COVID-19 history. On including the 123 participants with asthma in the analysis, the 24% of the patients who had had COVID-19 were found to have a slightly lower lung function, though statistically non-significant.

The second study assessed the long-term effects of COVID-19 infection from August 2020 through March 21 in 73 children and adolescents aged 5-18 years. It also included 45 children who had not contracted COVID-19 but may have had some other infection. On comparing the COVID-19 patients with the control group, there seemed to be no statistically significant differences in the frequency of abnormal lung function… (ET Healthworld – PTI, September 8, 2021)