Ben Affleck’s daughter is Gen Z's voice on COVID
Key Takeaways
Violet Affleck, who contracted a post-viral condition in 2019, appealed mask bans in a recent speech to LA county.
Affleck, like other members of Gen Z, is highlighting the fact that we still don't know the full long-term health impacts of COVID-19 infection on children, who are still growing and developing.
Long COVID presents differently in children than in adults, and its symptoms can overlap other post-viral conditions. It is unclear how many children develop long COVID, but certain factors place a child at risk of the condition.
Violet Affleck, the 18-year-old daughter of actors Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, recently disclosed that in 2019 she contracted a post-viral condition following COVID-19 infection.
During a public comments portion of a Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting in July 2024, Affleck advocated for mask mandates and better air filtration in medical and governmental facilities, more free testing, and better access to treatment opportunities.[]
Affleck’s impassioned speech highlights the fact that many teens and young adults are especially weary of the long-term impacts of COVID-19 infection. While other generations are more likely to maintain a relatively relaxed attitude toward the ongoing pandemic, Affleck and other Gen Z-ers implore adults to remember what is at stake when a virus is allowed to spread among our youngest and most vulnerable.
“I’m OK now, but I saw first-hand that medicine does not always have answers to the consequences of even minor viruses,” Affleck said.[]
Long COVID incidence in children unclear
The set of conditions following infection with COVID-19, known as long COVID, has an indistinct incidence in children and presents differently in children than in adults.
According to a report by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, 1.3% of children aged 0–17 years in the US had a history of long COVID, per a 2022 survey.[] Girls were more likely than boys to develop the condition, at 1.6% vs 0.9%. The patient-reported data showed that children aged 12–17 years were more likely to develop long COVID than those aged 0–5 years and 6–11 years. Hispanic children were more likely to develop the condition than Black non-Hispanic children and Asian non-Hispanic children.
However, a review published in Pediatrics found the incidence of long COVID in children varied greatly from 4% to 62%, with many large studies reporting estimates of around 10% to 20% within the first 6 months after acute infection.[]
The authors suggested this lack of consensus is due to the varied study design, and the fact that long COVID can be difficult to diagnose because of its broad signs and symptoms, which can overlap with underlying comorbidities.
Presentation differs in children
Children like Violet Affleck may experience medical conditions that impact their lives—but it’s hard to trace their roots to long COVID.
In 2021, the NIH started the RECOVER initiative to better understand long COVID in adults, pregnant people, and children and young adults. Jessica Snowden, MD, the vice dean for research at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, leads one of six pediatric research hubs currently enrolling 8,500 children who will be followed for 4 years or longer.
“The symptoms may come from the same place organically, but they show up differently in a kid,” Dr. Snowden explained.[] “An adult might tell you that they can’t smell anything anymore… A kid will just stop eating because nothing tastes good. So suddenly, we have kids who are losing weight because they’re refusing to eat. An adult has brain fog that they can tell you about, while a kid suddenly might not perform in school the way they did before. Instead of being able to articulate that they’re short of breath, kids just might not be able to play the way they could before they had COVID.”
Dr. Snowden highlighted that children are at increased risk because they are still growing and developing. “Because COVID is hitting kids at a time that their bodies are changing every day, the things that are happening can have longer-lasting effects than they do in adults,” Dr. Snowden said.[]
As suggested by the CDC data, the Pediatrics review also found older children were at greater risk of developing long COVID. Children were more likely to develop long COVID following a more severe COVID-19 illness and with more organs of the body affected. Those with chronic medical conditions and at increased weight also presented at greater risk of long COVID.[]
Long COVID in children affected all parts of the body, but most commonly the head and neck, presenting with disturbances of smell and taste or a loss of smell. The review also found 2% to 44% of children with long COVID experienced brain fog.
Mental health conditions included anxiety, ADD/ADHD, and those related to trauma or stressors. While rare, some children were left with cardiac symptoms, including a rapid heart rate on standing, known as orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), unexplained exercise intolerance, fatigue, or a rapid heart rate at rest.[]
Long COVID vs other post-viral conditions
A systematic review published in eClinical Medicine looked at how symptoms of long COVID differed from other post-viral conditions in 35 studies that included almost 43,000 children and adolescents.[]
Symptom duration was similar for long COVID and post-Epstein Barr Virus (EBV)/post gastrointestinal virus syndromes, at 7 months and 6 months, respectively. Fatigue was a common symptom of long COVID and post-EBV. Studies on respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and rhinovirus, which mainly included children younger than 3, reported the development of recurrent wheezing for up to 3 years post-infection.[]
“Recovery was achieved in more than half of the children with post-COVID and post-EBV condition, with a smaller proportion of children developing chronic symptoms,” the eClinical Medicine authors wrote. “A better understanding of long/post COVID as a unique condition, sharing features with other post-viral syndromes, is needed.”
In addressing the long COVID crisis, Violet Affleck called for essential measures such as mask availability, air filtration, and far-UVC lights in government facilities, including jails and detention centers. She also asked for widespread opposition of mask bans.
“[Mask bans] do not keep us safer,” Affleck said. “They make vulnerable members of our community less safe and make everyone less able to participate in Los Angeles together.”
Affleck’s compelling arguments and advocacy efforts, which benefit from her public platform given her famous parents, mark her as Gen Z’s voice in the ongoing fight against COVID-19.
What this means for you
With the uncertainty surrounding long-term impacts of COVID-19 in younger people, celebrity children like Violet Affleck are using their platform to remind adults that the pandemic is far from over. Certain factors place a child at risk of developing long COVID, which has still-unknown impacts to their growth and development. Long COVID presents differently in children than in adults, and it may show similarities to other post-viral conditions. Physicians may want to consider long COVID when children present with unexplained symptoms.