ONE in 10 secondary school pupils who have caught coronavirus are suffering from Long Covid, a study has found.
The Office for National Statistics data showed that over a third of the school staff who contracted the virus have experienced symptoms for longer than the norm.
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The most common Long Covid symptoms suffered by students and teachers were tiredness and a general feeling of weakness.
Nearly 3,500 students and 1,600 teachers from both primary and secondary schools were included in the study.
The study found that 35.7 percent of teachers and 12.3 percent of secondary students reported Long Covid symptoms.
Long Covid symptoms affected 15.5 percent of staff, and 9.4% among secondary students.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “This survey data reveals the largely hidden long-term effects of Covid on both students and school and college staff.
“It is pleasing to note that, despite suffering ongoing and debilitating symptoms, more than half of the staff and young people who responded to the survey had returned to the classroom within four weeks of initially testing positive.
“We obviously have concerns about the number of staff reporting that their ability to perform their normal day-to-day duties had been affected by ongoing coronavirus symptoms such as tiredness and shortness of breath.
“These findings again reinforce the importance of the Covid vaccination programme, including 12 to 15-year-olds, in helping to reduce the spread of the coronavirus in schools and colleges.”
Another study has shown that nearly a third of those who have long-term Covid symptoms also experience depression and headaches.
Scientists compared symptoms that patients who were infected by Covid-19 to those who also had the flu.
When people get the coronavirus, long Covid means that they don’t fully recover but suffer from symptoms for many weeks.
According to the experts, long Covid is the same as “long flu” but more common.
Oxford University scientists stated that they did not find anything new in the symptoms people experience for many months after contracting coronavirus.
Long-lasting effects appear to be 50 per cent more common after Covid than after flu, they said – but even this could just be because scientists are looking harder.
Professor Paul Harrison, a psychiatrist at Oxford, said: “One of the challenges of thinking about long Covid is which of these symptoms are really directly related to Covid?
“As opposed to being more generalised effects that we can see after a range of health conditions.
“Our data don’t suggest there is anything unique about the long Covid symptoms.”
And Dr Max Taquet added: “It’s a possibility that there are long-term symptoms after the flu that we had overlooked simply because we didn’t have this focus before.”
The 9 most common long Covid symptoms
Over a third of Covid-19 patients are diagnosed with at least one long-Covid symptom.
Below are the most common symptoms and percentages of those who experience them.
- Anxiety/depression – 15%
- Abnormal breathing – 8%
- Abdominal symptoms – 8%
- Other pain – 7%
- Chest/throat pain – 6%
- Fatigue – 6%
- Headache – 5%
- Cognitive problems (‘brain fog’) – 4%
- Myalgia (muscle pain) – 1.5%
- Any of the above features – 37%
Their study, published in the journal PLOS Medicine, looked at medical records from 270,000 Covid survivors in the US.
It was found that 36.6% of people had Covid symptoms for at least three months after being tested positive.
This compares to 29% who showed the same symptoms 3 months after getting the flu.
The most common symptoms were anxiety and depression which affected 15% of people. Next came breathing problems which affected 8%.
These included chest pain, brain fog and tiredness as well as headaches, muscle pains, fatigue, and brain fog.
The Office for National Statistics also conducted a survey of English school pupils and staff. It found that 36% of adults and 12% of children had long Covid.
This report showed that fatigue and weakness were the most common conditions, affecting as many as 60% of those affected.
Professor Masud Husain, who was involved in the Oxford study, added: “A GP or a doctor will be treating the symptoms in the same way they would if they occurred in another context, like flu, until we have a better understanding of the mechanism.”
It was previously reported that over a million Brits are suffering with long Covid and that cases are rising in children.
Experts claim that you can predict if you will get long Covid based on the symptoms you have when you first contract it.
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