Long Covid in children 'not recognised', says Milton Keynes mum

A mother-of-five whose children are believed to be suffering the long-term effects of coronavirus says she wants the condition to be fully recognised by senior doctors.

Charlie Mountford-Hill, 37, from Milton Keynes, suspects the whole family caught Covid-19 last March before wider testing for the virus was available. They continue to experience symptoms including shortness of breath and bruising.

She said a "big breakthrough" came recently when a new consultant diagnosed her son Indy with "long Covid". However, she told an All-Party Parliamentary Group not enough was being done to help her and other families, with a lord calling it a "national scandal".

"I look at all of my children and none of them are the same children that were before we got sick, in March," she told the group.

The Department for Health and Social Care said it was working with scientists to improve the understanding of long Covid and had opened new specialist clinics.

If you need advice on coronavirus in children, visit the NHS website.