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. 2023 Jul;71(5):1367-1373.
doi: 10.1080/07448481.2021.1927053. Epub 2021 Jul 9.

The kids are not alright: A preliminary report of Post-COVID syndrome in university students

Julie Walsh-Messinger  1   2 , Hannah Manis  1 , Alison Vrabec  1 , Jenna Sizemore  1 , Karyn Bishof  3 , Marcella Debidda  4 , Dolores Malaspina  5 , Noah Greenspan  4   6
Affiliations

The kids are not alright: A preliminary report of Post-COVID syndrome in university students

Julie Walsh-Messinger et al. J Am Coll Health. 2023 Jul.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the prevalence and features of protracted COVID-19 symptoms in non-hospitalized university students who experienced mild-to-moderate acute illness.

Participants: COVID-19 positive participants with symptoms ≥ 28 days (N = 22), herein referred to as post-COVID syndrome, were compared to those who fully recovered (N = 21) and those never diagnosed with the disease (N = 58).

Methods: Students completed online study to earn research credit for class.

Results: 51% of COVID-19 positive participants were classified with post-COVID syndrome. During acute illness, those with post-COVID syndrome experienced more chest pain, fatigue, fever, olfactory impairment, headaches, and diarrhea compared to fully recovered participants. They also reported more current exercise intolerance, dyspnea, chest pain, olfactory impairment, lymphadenopathy, gustatory impairment, and appetite loss than students who never contracted COVID-19.

Conclusions: Our results contradict the perception that this yet to be defined post-COVID syndrome predominantly affects middle-aged adults. Student health centers should closely monitor those who contract COVID-19 for lingering effects.

Keywords: COVID long-haulers; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; long COVID; post-COVID syndrome.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

NG is the Founder of the Pulmonary Wellness Foundation, under which he opened the Pulmonary Wellness Foundation’s COVID Rehabilitation & Recovery Clinic at H&D Physical Therapy. He also serves as a consultant for PulmonX. All other authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Breakdown of included and excluded study participants.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Symptoms reported by COVID recovered and post-COVID syndrome participants during acute illness. Bars represent the percentage of each group who endorsed each symptom.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Symptoms endorsed over the past week by post-COVID syndrome participants and those who tested negative for COVID-19. Bars represent the percentage of those who endorsed the symptom in each group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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