Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital helping children who are COVID long haulers

By ROGER SUSANIN, ROB POLANSKY

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    NEW HAVEN, Connecticut (WFSB) — Connecticut continues to build momentum in the fight against the coronavirus.

Doctors in New Haven are focusing on helping children with a set of lingering symptoms they call “long COVID.”

A program is available and it’s giving families hope.

Doctors said most kids who contract COVID-19 bounce back in a couple of weeks; however, some children continue to suffer from symptoms long after they test positive.

Now, those children can go to Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital and take advantage of a new program designed to put them on a path to wellness.

The leaders of Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital started what doctors are calling a post-COVID comprehensive care program that will allow healthcare workers to focus on kids who are still dealing with COVID symptoms months after they were infected.

The big change is that going forward, families will be able to meet with experts in a long list of fields including infectious diseases, pulmonology, cardiology, and neurology, all in one visit. That’s important because young patients with long COVID often struggle with a wide variety of issues such as anxiety, cognitive difficulties, extreme fatigue, and shortness of breath.

The leaders at Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital stressed that it is a cutting-edge treatment plan and they are very proud to offer it.

Another benefit of the program is that doctors will be able to get a clearer picture of whether children dealing with long COVID should return to activities like in-person school and sports. However, experts said this really should give families hope that they will get the answers they need going forward.

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