Researchers have discovered a molecular signature of Long Covid in children, detectable through a blood test and diagnosable with 93% accuracy using AI.
This breakthrough signifies a major advancement in pediatric healthcare, offering hope for early detection and tailored treatments.
Pediatric Long Covid Diagnosis
One day, diagnosing Long Covid in children could be as simple as a blood test, thanks to Artificial Intelligence (AI). A recent study conducted by researchers from Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome—along with Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS and Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù IRCCS—has identified a unique molecular signature of Long Covid in children’s blood plasma. Using this data, an AI-powered tool was able to diagnose the condition with an impressive 93% accuracy.
The study was published today (January 24) in Pediatric Research, a journal by the Nature Group, and was led by Dr. Danilo Buonsenso, a pediatric researcher at the Catholic University’s Faculty of Medicine and Surgery and a pediatrician at the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Unit of Fondazione Policlinico Gemelli IRCCS. Dr. Nicola Cotugno, from the Clinical Immunology and Vaccinology Unit at Bambino Gesù IRCCS Pediatric Hospital, also contributed to the research.
The study involved, among others, Dr. Piero Valentini, a researcher in General and Specialist Paediatrics at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of the Catholic University and director of the Paediatric Infectious Diseases Operative Unit of the Fondazione Policlinico Gemelli IRCCS, and Dr. Paolo Palma, head of the Complex Operative Unit of Clinical Immunology and Vaccinology of the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital IRCCS.
Understanding Long Covid in Children
Long Covid affects on average 0.5% of pediatric patients exposed to SARS-CoV-2. This condition, also known as Post COVID or Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2, is characterized by the persistence of signs and symptoms for at least 8-12 weeks, symptoms not present before the viral infection, with a negative impact on daily life. Long COVID affects patients of almost all age groups, and among pediatric patients those older than 10 years seem to be most affected, regardless of the severity of the initial infection.
In adults, the Long COVID ‘sign’ was found in the blood of adults, but a similar finding in the pediatric population was lacking.
Key Insights from the Study
The experts analyzed the blood of 112 young people aged 0-19 years, of whom 34 had a clinical diagnosis of Long COVID, 32 had the active infection at the time of the study, 27 had Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (MIS-C, a severe hyper-inflammatory reaction that almost always requires intensive care) and 19 healthy control peers.
The experts performed an analysis of the blood protein component (proteomics) and saw that, compared to the control groups, the pediatric Long COVID was characterized by a higher presence in plasma of the pro-inflammatory and pro-angiogenic chemokine sets CXCL11, CXCL1, CXCL5, CXCL6, CXCL8, TNFSF11, OSM, STAMBP1a. An artificial intelligence model based on proteomic profiling was able to identify long Covid with an accuracy of 0.93, a specificity of 0.86, and a sensitivity of 0.97.
Potential Implications for Future Diagnosis
Long Covid in pediatric patients also presents a distinct protein signature in plasma, characterized by increased inflammation in general and at the level of blood vessel walls (endothelia), as already seen in adults. The discovery could lead to the development of a simple routine diagnostic test based on a blood sample, allowing timely and complete care of the pediatric patient with Long Covid.
“The immunological data produced in this study provide the evidence needed to identify therapeutic targets to be tested in efficacy and safety studies in pediatric Long Covid,” Dr. Cotugno of the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital explains.
“This work demonstrates incontrovertibly that Long Covid, also in pediatric age, is an organic immune-mediated disease, for which new funding is needed to study the best therapeutic approaches,” Dr. Buonsenso concludes.
Reference: “Distinct pro-inflammatory/pro-angiogenetic signatures distinguish children with Long COVID from controls” by Danilo Buonsenso, Nicola Cotugno, Donato Amodio, Giuseppe Rubens Pascucci, Gabriele Di Sante, Chiara Pighi, Elena Morrocchi, Alessandro Pucci, Giulio Olivieri, Nicole Colantoni, Lorenza Romani, Arianna Rotili, Alessia Neri, Rosa Morello, Michela Sali, Adriana Tremoulet, Francesca Raffaelli, Giuseppe Zampino, Paolo Rossi, Piero Valentini and Paolo Palma, 24 January 2025, Pediatric Research.
DOI: 10.1038/s41390-025-03837-0
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1 Comment
They can’t find COVID, because it’s not there, so they resorted to AI to hallucinate it up.