Post-COVID-19 condition and persisting symptoms in English schoolchildren: repeated surveys to March 2022

BMC Infectious Diseases

Table 1 Weighted prevalence of long COVID meeting a definition based on the DELPHI consensus definition in survey rounds one and three by pupil characteristics

Age-group	Characteristic	Round one (Nov/Dec 2021)		Round three (Mar/Apr 2022)
Age-group	Characteristic	Unweighted denominator	Weighted %^(a) with long COVID^(b) (95% C.I.)	Unweighted denominator	Weighted %^(a) with long COVID^(b) (95% C.I.)
Primary school years 0–6 (aged 4–11 years)	Overall	2,485	1.0 (0.5 to 1.6)	3,788	1.8 (1.2 to 2.6)
	Gender
	Female	1,227	1.5 (0.8 to 2.7)	1,880	2.7 (1.7 to 4.0)
	Male	1,258	0.4 (0.1 to 1.2)	1,908	1.0 (0.4 to 2.0)
	Underlying health conditions^c
	Present	234	1.2 (0.1 to 1.8)	319	3.8 (1.3 to 8.2)
	Absent	2,216	1.0 (0.5 to 1.7)	2,868	1.5 (0.9 to 2.4)
	Missing	35		601
	Free school meals
	Eligible	518	1.1 (0.3 to 3.0)	855	1.3 (0.4 to 3.0)
	Not eligible	1,848	0.8 (0.4 to 1.6)	2,748	2.0 (1.3 to 2.9)
	Missing	119		185
Secondary school years 7–13 (aged 11 to 18 years)	Overall	2,045	2.7 (1.6 to 4.3)	2,966	4.8 (3.7 to 6.0)
	Age-group
	Years 7–11	1,902	2.5 (1.4 to 4.2)	2,617	4.5 (3.4 to 5.7)
	Years 12–13	143	4.4 (1.1 to 11.6)	349	6.9 (3.3 to 12.4)
	Gender
	Female	1,070	2.2 (0.9 to 4.5)	1,641	5.8 (4.2 to 7.7)
	Male	975	3.2 (1.6 to 5.7)	1,325	3.8 (2.5 to 5.5)
	Underlying health conditions
	Present	168	5.6 (0.7 to 19.1)	330	4.8 (2.0 to 9.5)
	Absent	1,074	1.7 (0.6 to 3.8)	2,276	4.4 (3.3 to 5.8)
	Missing	803		360
	Free school meals
	Eligible	194	2.3 (0.1 to 9.8)	284	5.3 (2.1 to 10.8)
	Not eligible	1,809	2.7 (1.5 to 4.4)	2,615	4.6 (3.6 to 5.9)
	Missing	42		67

^aEstimates are weighted for sampling design, school-level response rate, school years, sex, ethnicity and free school meal eligibility (a measure of socio-economic deprivation)
^b Long COVID defined as self-reporting a positive SARS-CoV-2 test (PCR or lateral flow) since March 2020, the presence of symptoms continuously for ≥ 12 weeks and everyday life being affected by symptoms
^c Underlying health conditions included cancer, diabetes, serious heart problems, chest complaints or breathing difficulties including poorly-controlled asthma, kidney, liver or a gut disease, lowered immunity due to disease or treatment (such as steroid medication, chemotherapy or radiotherapy), an organ transplant, a neurodisability or neuromuscular condition, a severe or profound learning disability, Downs syndrome, a problem with the spleen e.g. sickle cell disease or spleen removal, epilepsy, serious genetic problems, serious allergies e.g. eczema, allergic rhinitis or food allergies, other serious medical conditions as advised by a doctor or specialist

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