PubMed:
Provider: NLM
Database: PubMed (National Library of Medicine), https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Date(s) Searched: October 28, 2026
Date range searched: 2020-present
Language: English
Publication types excluded: Comment, Case Reports, Editorial, Preprint
Final count: 1,072 (line 20)
Search Terms:

No. | Query | Results
1 | "COVID-19"[Majr] OR "Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome"[Majr] OR "SARS-CoV-2"[Majr] OR "pediatric multisystem inflammatory disease, COVID-19 related"[Supplementary Concept] | 268,269
2 | "COVID-19"[ti] OR COVID19[ti] OR "COVID 19"[ti] OR "SARS-CoV-2"[ti] OR "SARS CoV 2"[ti] OR "SARS-CoV-2 Infection"[ti] OR "Coronavirus Disease 2019"[ti] OR "2019 novel coronavirus"[ti] OR "Long COVID"[ti] OR "Post-COVID Conditions"[ti] OR "post-COVID-19 condition"[ti] OR "post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2"[ti] OR "post-acute COVID-19 syndrome"[ti] OR "long-haul COVID"[ti] OR "post-COVID"[ti] | 387,506
3 | "MIS-C"[tiab] | 2,453
4 | "multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children"[tw] OR "paediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome"[tw] | 2,403
5 | "Long COVID"[ot] OR "post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2"[ot] | 5,477
6 | 1 OR 2 OR 3 OR 4 OR 5 | 440,033
7 | "Cognition"[Majr:NoExp] OR "Cognitive Dysfunction"[Mesh] OR "Neurocognitive Disorders"[Majr:NoExp] OR "Memory, Episodic"[Mesh] OR "Memory, Short-Term"[Mesh] OR "Memory Disorders"[Mesh] OR "Executive Function"[Mesh] OR "Attention"[Majr:NoExp] OR "Mental Fatigue"[Mesh] OR "Neurologic Manifestations"[Majr:NoExp] OR "Neuropsychological Tests"[Majr:NoExp] | 281,973
8 | cognition[ti] OR cognitive[ti] OR memory[ti] OR "executive function"[ti] | 320,765
9 | neurocognitive[tiab] OR "cognitive impairment"[tiab] OR "cognitive dysfunction"[tiab] OR "cognitive decline"[tiab] OR "cognitive deficit*"[tiab] OR "cognitive symptom*"[tiab] OR "memory impairment"[tiab] OR "brain fog"[tiab] OR neuropsychological[tiab] OR "neurological symptom*"[tiab] OR "neurologic symptom*"[tiab] OR "neurological manifestation*"[tiab] OR "neurologic manifestation*"[tiab] OR "neuro-PASC"[tiab] | 324,011
10 | cognition[ot] OR memory[ot] OR "executive function"[ot] OR "cognitive impairment"[ot] OR "brain fog"[ot] OR neurology[ot] | 151,788
11 | 7 OR 8 OR 9 OR 10 | 682,882
12 | "COVID-19 Vaccines"[Majr] OR "Vaccination"[Majr] OR "Breakthrough Infections"[Majr] OR "COVID-19 breakthrough infections"[Supplementary Concept] | 74,035
13 | vaccin*[ti] OR immunization[ti] OR immunisation[ti] OR "breakthrough infection*"[ti] | 294,470
14 | vaccin*[tiab] OR "breakthrough infection*"[tiab] OR BNT162b2[tiab] OR "mRNA-1273"[tiab] OR ChAdOx1[tiab] OR "Ad26.COV2.S"[tiab] | 510,697
15 | vaccin*[ot] OR "breakthrough infection*"[ot] | 130,196
16 | 12 OR 13 OR 14 OR 15 | 532,214
17 | 6 AND 11 AND 16 | 1,237
18 | "Comment"[Publication Type] OR "Case Reports"[Publication Type] OR "Editorial"[Publication Type] OR "Preprint"[Publication Type] | 4,270,113
19 | 17 NOT 18 | 1,078
20 | 19 AND english[la] AND 2020:3000[dp] | 1,072

Final query as run through NCBI E-utilities (line 20):
(((("COVID-19"[Majr] OR "Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome"[Majr] OR "SARS-CoV-2"[Majr] OR "pediatric multisystem inflammatory disease, COVID-19 related"[Supplementary Concept]) OR ("COVID-19"[ti] OR COVID19[ti] OR "COVID 19"[ti] OR "SARS-CoV-2"[ti] OR "SARS CoV 2"[ti] OR "SARS-CoV-2 Infection"[ti] OR "Coronavirus Disease 2019"[ti] OR "2019 novel coronavirus"[ti] OR "Long COVID"[ti] OR "Post-COVID Conditions"[ti] OR "post-COVID-19 condition"[ti] OR "post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2"[ti] OR "post-acute COVID-19 syndrome"[ti] OR "long-haul COVID"[ti] OR "post-COVID"[ti]) OR ("MIS-C"[tiab]) OR ("multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children"[tw] OR "paediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome"[tw]) OR ("Long COVID"[ot] OR "post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2"[ot])) AND (("Cognition"[Majr:NoExp] OR "Cognitive Dysfunction"[Mesh] OR "Neurocognitive Disorders"[Majr:NoExp] OR "Memory, Episodic"[Mesh] OR "Memory, Short-Term"[Mesh] OR "Memory Disorders"[Mesh] OR "Executive Function"[Mesh] OR "Attention"[Majr:NoExp] OR "Mental Fatigue"[Mesh] OR "Neurologic Manifestations"[Majr:NoExp] OR "Neuropsychological Tests"[Majr:NoExp]) OR (cognition[ti] OR cognitive[ti] OR memory[ti] OR "executive function"[ti]) OR (neurocognitive[tiab] OR "cognitive impairment"[tiab] OR "cognitive dysfunction"[tiab] OR "cognitive decline"[tiab] OR "cognitive deficit*"[tiab] OR "cognitive symptom*"[tiab] OR "memory impairment"[tiab] OR "brain fog"[tiab] OR neuropsychological[tiab] OR "neurological symptom*"[tiab] OR "neurologic symptom*"[tiab] OR "neurological manifestation*"[tiab] OR "neurologic manifestation*"[tiab] OR "neuro-PASC"[tiab]) OR (cognition[ot] OR memory[ot] OR "executive function"[ot] OR "cognitive impairment"[ot] OR "brain fog"[ot] OR neurology[ot])) AND (("COVID-19 Vaccines"[Majr] OR "Vaccination"[Majr] OR "Breakthrough Infections"[Majr] OR "COVID-19 breakthrough infections"[Supplementary Concept]) OR (vaccin*[ti] OR immunization[ti] OR immunisation[ti] OR "breakthrough infection*"[ti]) OR (vaccin*[tiab] OR "breakthrough infection*"[tiab] OR BNT162b2[tiab] OR "mRNA-1273"[tiab] OR ChAdOx1[tiab] OR "Ad26.COV2.S"[tiab]) OR (vaccin*[ot] OR "breakthrough infection*"[ot]))) NOT ("Comment"[Publication Type] OR "Case Reports"[Publication Type] OR "Editorial"[Publication Type] OR "Preprint"[Publication Type])) AND english[la] AND 2020:3000[dp]

AI-use statement:
The PubMed search strategy was drafted with the PICO search builder. It used the large language model claude-opus-5-5 (Anthropic; accessed October 28, 2026) to propose search concepts and terms from the review question. The tool made 1 call to the model at high effort (the draft); claude-opus-5-5 was requested and answered it. Every MeSH heading, Supplementary Concept and publication type the strategy searches was checked against NLM MeSH (id.nlm.nih.gov) before use: 23 valid. Each numbered line was run in PubMed through NCBI E-utilities on October 28, 2026, and PubMed's own diagnostics (phrases not found, ignored words, lost truncation) were checked. The strategy was tested against 6 known relevant studies that were not shown to the model: 4 were retrieved (95% CI 22%–96%). Retrieving known studies does not prove the search is complete. 2 further known studies were shown to the model as examples. 1 further known study could not be matched to a single PubMed record, so it was not tested: "Cognition and Memory after Covid-19 in a Large Community Sample". Compared with the reference strategy, the strategy retrieves 391 of the reference's 521 records (relative recall 75%). Relative recall counts every record the reference retrieves, relevant or not, so it does not show how many relevant studies the strategy finds. A searcher must review the strategy before it is used. The prompts, the model output and every version are in the provenance file (JSON export).

Review question: What is the association between COVID-19 vaccination and neurocognitive outcomes of COVID-19, including long COVID and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children?
Run 0960c5fd-8bfc-48dc-87c0-0848c4fa0e21, exported October 29, 2026 from the PICO search builder.