Background: Fatigue represents high incidence among the children with long Covid illness, multiple consequences are associated with disease including deteriorated school performance and social family burden, in this study we aimed to detect the pattern of chronic fatigue in children post COVID -19 infection and the possible risk factors.
Patients and methods: A cross section study included 140 patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection recruited from Cairo university pediatric hospital during the period from September 2020 to September 2021, they were selected by simple random method. All patients were interviewed with the fatigue scale (CFQ-11) to assess the degree of fatigue and relate it to multiple predisposing factors.
Results: The study included 140 patients 3-18 years old, they were 86 (61.4%) males, and 54 (38.6%) females, the incidence of fatigue was 67.9% according to the fatigue scale, the severity of the fatigue increased with the severity of the symptoms, hospital admission, and the presence of underlying diseases.
Conclusion: chronic fatigue post Covid-19 infection is a growing dilemma in Egyptian children. It is related to different clinical and radiological factors. Proper history taking with specified scales and regular follow up are important to reduce the hazards of this growing problem.