Persistent symptoms after COVID-19 in children and adolescents from Argentina

•Long COVID-19 is a prevalent condition in the pediatric population.•Age, symptomatic infection, and comorbidities are risk factors for long COVID.•Children with an asymptomatic or mild COVID-19 could develop persistent symptoms.•A subgroup of children with COVID-19 should be specifically monitored.•These findings may inform public health strategies in the pediatric population. Although long COVID-19 is widely recognized in adults, less information is available about this condition in children, especially in developing countries. Here, we studied the long-term symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection beyond 3 months and the associated risk factors in a pediatric population. This observational study included 639 Argentinian children and adolescents with previously confirmed COVID-19 from June 2020-June 2021 and 577 children without previous COVID-19. Parents completed a survey about symptoms that their child had for >3 months after the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection. At least one persistent symptom was observed more frequently in children with previous COVID-19 than in the non-COVID-19 group (34% vs 13%, P