COVID On Air #11: Aiding The Young with Sammie Mcfarland

Summary

Sammie Mcfarland, Founder of Long Covid Kids, joined us from the United Kingdom to discuss the impact of long-term Covid-19 in children. Known as “Long Covid”, Mcfarland talks about the diverse symptoms found in children that often differ from adults. 

Mcfarland and her 14-year-old daughter were both diagnosed with Covid-19 last March. Her daughter experienced Long Covid over several months, and was mostly in bed, with limited mobility. Due to the extreme symptoms and lack of guidelines from the health department, Mcfarland created Long Covid Kids to connect with other families going through similar issues. Long Covid Kids now even collects data for agencies researching the effects of Covid-19 and brings a voice to the families that have been heavily impacted by pediatric Long Covid.

At this stage, many healthcare professionals don’t have enough information surrounding Long Covid for adults, much less children. Mcfarland explains that without the “common” symptoms seen in children, children are much more likely to not be admitted into hospitals to be treated for Covid-19, even if the symptoms worsen.

Even still, many places in the UK and beyond don’t believe that Covid-19 has an effect on the younger population. Mcfarland states that change and awareness are happening, but it’s slow and met with lots of resistance, economically and politically. She suggests that it’s not “helpful” for children getting Covid-19, as schools are reopening and they don’t have the right mitigation measures. 

Mcfarland feels little can be done on a local level until the federal level steps up and acknowledges that children are affected by Covid-19, sometimes severely. Once the government creates a clinical definition, hospitals would be more equipped to treat children for the variety of unique symptoms brought on by this disease.

Key Takeaways:

• Under the current list of symptoms that must be present in order to get tested, many children who have Covid-19 do not qualify. If they don’t get tested, that means there are limited treatments available. 

• Currently, Mcfarland and her team are collecting data from a group of families with 2,600 children in the UK and beyond, cataloging different symptoms of their children who have Long Covid.

• With anecdotal evidence, Mcfarland mentions that electrolytes and magnesium have been showing some improvements of fatigue and gut health.

• Pediatric Long Covid can have many symptoms that differ from adults. Some of which but aren’t limited to: Rashes, gastric issues, nausea, and even more severe forms of immobilization. 

• Many children who experience Long Covid will have periods of feeling better, and then symptoms flare up again in a couple of weeks, oftentimes worse than previous.

• When children experience Long Covid without being properly diagnosed, this can wreak havoc. Parents are not getting answers from their healthcare providers and instead, in some extreme cases, are accused of fabricating the illness of their child instead of being properly diagnosed. 

• Covid toes mean toes and sometimes fingers turn a purplish color. They can be accompanied by agitation or itchiness.