More than 12.7 million children in the United States alone have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, and while they are not generally as severely affected by the virus as adults, they have given unusual consequences for the little ones, altering their childhood.
Some children suffer from unexplained symptoms long after the virus is gone, often called
prolonged COVID
, while others are reinfected, experts say.
There are those who make a good recovery, but then suffer a mysterious condition that causes severe swelling of the organs, according to a report by The Associated Press.
Brooklynn Chiles, 8, is one of the little ones affected:
she has had the coronavirus three times, and no one can understand why
.
Each time he has tested positive, he has suffered no overt symptoms.
But her father, Rodney, contracted the virus, possibly from her, when he tested positive in September, and died from it.
[The pandemic poses short-term and long-term risks to pregnant women and their unborn babies]
Family photos of Danielle and Rodney Chiles and their daughter, Brooklynn, decorate the refrigerator in the family's kitchen in Washington.
Carolyn Kaster/AP
Her mother, Danielle, fears that she will get sick again and have severe symptoms.
“Every time, I think: Am I going to go through this with her too?” she told The Associated Press.
“Is this the moment I lose everyone?” she added.
Brooklynn is at Children's National Hospital, one of many federally funded hospitals studying the long-term effects of COVID-19 on children.
The ultimate goal is to assess the impact on children's overall health and development, both physically and mentally, and to discover how their still-developing immune systems respond to the virus to learn why some do well and others don't.
About 200 children up to the age of 21 are enrolled in the study at the hospital, some who had coronavirus and some who did not, with cases ranging from mild to severe.
Alyssa Carpenter, 3, is also part of the study.
She has had COVID-19 twice and has strange fevers that flare up unexpectedly and other unusual symptoms.
Her feet sometimes turn bright red and itch with pain.
Her parents, Tara and Tyson Carpenter, have two other daughters, Audrey, 5, and Hailey, 9, who is on the autism spectrum.
Like many parents,
the pandemic has been a nightmare of missed school, unproductive work, restrictions and confusion.
But on top of all the anxiety many parents feel is concern for their young child.
They don't know how to help her.
[No, masks do not affect children's development and learning]
Alyssa Carpenter, 3, waits for the elevator with her mother, Tara Carpenter, holding stickers and toys she was given during her follow-up visit to Children's National Hospital in Washington.
Alyssa has had COVID-19 twice and is suffering from long-term symptoms.Carolyn Kaster/AP
“
It was super frustrating
,” says Tara Carpenter, who is quick to add that no one is to blame.
“We were trying to find answers for our daughter and no one could give us any.
And it was really frustrating,” she stated.
At their visits, the children receive complete medical check-ups, as well as a psychological evaluation led by Dr. Linda Herbert.
Herbert questions children about fatigue, sleep, pain, anxiety, depression, and peer relationships.
Do you have memory problems?
Are they having a hard time keeping things in their brains?
“There is a constellation of symptoms,” Herbert told the AP.
“Some kids have incredible anxiety about getting COVID-19 again,” he noted.
The specialist said that
psychological symptoms are among the most common, and it's not just children with COVID-19
, it's also their siblings and parents.
Multiple losses for children
Danielle Chiles feels the stress.
She is a single mother who works full time, she is grieving the loss of her partner and tries not to appear too depressed in front of her daughter.
Her decision to enroll her daughter Brooklynn in the study was motivated by wanting to draw attention to the need for vaccines, particularly in the black community.
“
My baby is still getting it
,” said Chiles, asking the community to get vaccinated to protect everyone.
Children recovered from COVID-19 may experience changes in their sense of smell, experts say
Jan. 20, 202201:51
The woman's husband and father of the little girl, Rodney Chiles, was not vaccinated.
He had doubts, like many, about the vaccine and preferred to wait to receive it.
But shortly after Brooklynn tested positive during the peak of the delta variant, she began to feel unwell and went downhill quickly.
The 42-year-old man had pre-existing conditions that hastened his death.
[COVID-19 can shrink the brain as much as a decade of aging, new studies say]
“And then he called us on a Sunday.
He was like, 'They're about to intubate me because I can't hold my oxygen.'
And I love you all and Brooklynn, forgive me,
'” the woman recounted.
It was the last time she spoke to them before she died.
"Even though the kids are not that sick, they are losing," Chiles said.
“They are losing parents, social lives, whole years.
Yes, children are resistant, but they cannot continue like this.
No one is that resilient,” he stated.