Soprano, Catherine M, Ngo, Ryan, Konys, Casey A et al. · Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023 · DOI
This study looked at how long COVID (called PASC) affects children and teenagers, comparing their experiences to adults. The researchers reviewed medical records to understand what symptoms young people had and whether they were referred to specialized treatment programs. The main finding was that young people with long COVID tend to have less severe symptoms than adults, though many young patients were not referred for treatment even when they needed it.
Because long COVID in children is poorly understood and understudied, this research helps fill a critical gap by documenting how pediatric PASC presentation differs from adult disease. The finding that many young patients go unreferred to treatment highlights a potential healthcare access problem that could delay or prevent recovery in this vulnerable population, making this especially relevant for ME/CFS clinicians managing post-viral conditions.
This retrospective observational study cannot establish causal relationships or prove why youth have milder symptoms than adults—it only documents the difference. It does not definitively determine the role of COVID vaccination in PASC severity due to unclear or incomplete data. The study also cannot explain why referral rates are low, only that they are.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Soprano, Catherine M, Ngo, Ryan, Konys, Casey A, Bazier, Ashley, & Salamon, Katherine S (2023). Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) in Pediatrics: Factors That Impact Symptom Severity and Referral to Treatment.. Children (Basel, Switzerland). https://doi.org/10.3390/children10111805
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-soprano-2023-post-acute,
author = {Soprano, Catherine M and Ngo, Ryan and Konys, Casey A and Bazier, Ashley and Salamon, Katherine S},
title = {Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) in Pediatrics: Factors That Impact Symptom Severity and Referral to Treatment.},
journal = {Children (Basel, Switzerland)},
year = {2023},
doi = {10.3390/children10111805},
note = {PubMed: 38002896},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/soprano-2023-post-acute},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/soprano-2023-post-acute
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