Preventive effect of vaccination on long COVID in adolescents with SARS-CoV-2 infection

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

PURPOSE: In adolescents (12-17 years), it is unknown whether COVID-19 vaccination reduces progression from COVID-19 to Long COVID (LC) beyond preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection. We assessed the effect of vaccination among SARS-CoV-2 infected adolescents. METHODS AND RESULTS: Participants were recruited from over 60 US healthcare and community settings. The exposure was any COVID-19 vaccination 6 months prior to infection. The outcome was LC defined using the LC research index. Vaccinated (n = 724) and unvaccinated (n = 507) adolescents were matched on sex, infection date, and enrollment date. The risk of LC was 36 % lower (95 % CI, 17 %, 50 %) in vaccinated compared to unvaccinated participants. CONCLUSIONS: Vaccination reduces the risk of LC. Given the profound impact LC can have on the health and well-being of adolescents and the limited availability of treatments during this developmental stage, this supports vaccination as a strategy for preventing LC by demonstrating an important secondary prevention effect.