Dr. Danilo Buonsenso

Dr Danilo Buonsenso, from the women and children’s department at the Gemelli University hospital in Rome has first-hand clinical experience of Long Covid. He was among the first to publish research of the impact of COVID-19 on children. Dr Buonsenso continues to treat children hospitalised with acute Covid-19 and PIMS and receives international referrals to assess and diagnose children living with Long Covid. His expertise is widely respected, and he continues to play a key role in global research.

Dr Buonsenso: "I am a Pediatric Infectious Disease doctor, involved in the frontline management of children with Sars-CoV-2 infection and their follow-up. This allowed me to notice early that not all children recover from the initial infection but some of them experience unexplained persisting signs and symptoms, which we now know as Long Covid"

"Initially, I was one of the few doctors in the world trusting these children and saw Long Covid as an organic disorder rather than a psychological effect of the pandemic. Confrontation and discussion with other colleagues, but more importantly parents and other children suffering from long covid from all over the world were extremely important to better understand this condition and have psychological support to continue my job".

"Long Covid Kids was, in this regard, a pivotal encounter for me. The organization allowed me to advance my knowledge and understanding of the condition and patients/families’ needs and allowed me to meet other colleagues from all over the world which, in turn, was necessary for us all to advance our research and interventions. I hope Long Covid Kids will continue its job, keeping with proper information but also, through charity, to support knowledgeable researchers to advance our knowledge, funding news studies, as pediatric long covid represent still a severely underfunded field".