Although the consequences of covid are not generally associated with the young population, 6.8% of adolescents in the province of Barcelona who have had the infection present persistent symptoms, according to the health habits survey of 4th year students. of ESO prepared by the Provincial Council.
Laura, a 17-year-old girl who has suffered from persistent Covid since she was 13, is an example of this situation. Both she and her mother have been reinfected six times, and the consequences are dire.
“Before the pandemic, Laura danced three hours a day, practiced fencing, played the drum… and she had to stop doing everything,” explains her mother, Geno Velasco, to the media of the Barcelona Provincial Council. “She could not return to school when the centers reopened. She had a bad headache, an unbearable pain; tiredness, joint pain,” she continues.
The girl, who has spent three years without being able to read because she did not understand the texts, has cognitive and concentration problems. She blanks out on exams. “Her academic level has dropped a lot, she needs private classes and psychological help,” says the mother, who denounces “the invisibility of the disease by professionals, schools and society in general.”
Unfortunately, Laura is not alone on the list of affected young people, one week before March 14, when four years will have passed since the government alarm decree that led to confinement due to the pandemic. Half of the adolescents in Barcelona have had covid and 6.8% of them present persistent symptoms, which affect girls (8.6%) more than boys (5.3%).
The Provincial Council’s health habits survey reveals, on the other hand, that having Covid more than once increases the risk of persistent symptoms. 5.6% of adolescents declare that they have had the infection only once and report persistence of symptoms, a percentage that almost doubles (11.6) among those who have been infected on more occasions.
In the 2023-23 academic year, a total of 1,954 adolescents from the 12 regions of Barcelona answered the survey, aimed at fourth-year ESO students (15-16 years old). Nearly half (1,059) declare having had a positive diagnosis for covid.
Among those who report persistent symptoms, 69% say they are tired, 44% have greater difficulty breathing, 44% have headaches, and 36% have more difficulty concentrating or performing mental activities.
Persistent covid is one of the unresolved consequences of the pandemic, says Gemma Tarafa, Public Health deputy of the provincial entity. “Before turning the page – she maintains – we have to be aware of the potential health, social, economic and well-being impact it can have, especially on our young population.”
Tarafa proposes addressing this problem from a triple perspective: continue monitoring the evolution, reduce infections as much as possible and provide a social, emotional and health response to those affected.
