Editorial: Long-Term Effects of Symptomatic and Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Children and the Changing Pathogenesis of Common Childhood Viruses Driven by the COVID-19 Pandemic

The range of long-term clinical conditions following SARS-CoV-2 infection in adults is now recognized. However, the prevalence, presentation, and risk factors for long COVID, or post-COVID-19, in children are less well understood because there have been few follow-up studies or long-term clinical trials in children with COVID-19. However, recent studies have shown that children with mild or asymptomatic COVID-19 may develop long-term sequelae that include cough, fatigue, and lethargy. The incidence and severity of common childhood respiratory viruses have changed in the past year, including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Hepatitis of unknown cause in children with SARS-CoV-2 infection is increasingly reported. Although both a viral cause and an autoimmune cause have been proposed, adenovirus type 41 infection is of current interest. These findings support immunization programs for SARS-CoV-2 in children, and infection surveillance and monitoring of the changing patterns and severity of other pediatric viral infections, including adenovirus type 41 and RSV, to develop and administer effective vaccines. This Editorial aims to highlight what is currently known of the long-term effects of symptomatic and asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and the changing epidemiology and pathogenesis of previously common childhood viral infections now driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.