Children with Covid-19
According to doctors, infected children with Covid-19 develop fewer symptoms of the disease than adults.
Children with Covid-19: Symptoms and Studies
The first 72,314 cases (at 3:00 pm on February 25, there were 77,658 confirmed cases in Italy. Among these cases there were only 2% of children and adolescents under the age of 19. There were no deaths in children under the age of 9. More severe tables are seen in the elderly and with comorbidities.
Another description published in the Lancet digital Health magazine, obtained from the epidemiological data of 507 patients available on social networks and new media. This description also found very few pediatric cases, 3%.
Wei et al published in February a retrospective series of the 9 children under 1 year hospitalized for COVID-19 in Italy between January 25 and February 2. None of these children had complications. This very small number suggested that children under 1 year of age were very little affected or undiagnosed due to the paucisymptomatic form.
Children appear to be very little affected by this virus, pediatric cases may not be diagnosed due to symptoms that are not very symptomatic, but children may transmit the disease even if they are not very ill.
The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal has published a comprehensive review by Zimmermann and Curtis of childhood coronavirus infections (including COVID-19). This review provides an update on the epidemiology, clinical, diagnostic, treatment and prevention methods in children.
Wong et al offer in the journal Pediatrics a clinical description of 2,143 pediatric cases (including 731 confirmed cases). 94 children were asymptomatic (systematic samples due to history). In 94% of cases the disease was mild (asymptomatic to moderate).
Among the 112 severe cases (respiratory distress with oxygen saturation <92%), 60% were less than 5 years old and 30% less than 1 year and among the 13 critical cases (ARDS and / or organ failure) 7 were less than 1 year old A 14 year old boy died. There are no data on possible comorbidities in children.
Until March 23, of the almost 58,000 Italian cases, only 597 were children and adolescents under 18 years of age (1%), the hospitalization rate for children was 11% (17.5% among children under 1 year), and 7% in over 7 years). No child used intensive care (data from the Istituto Superiore di Sanità)
Reliable data confirm the mildness of the infection in children (severe cases and deaths are extremely rare); Children under the age of 15 account for less than 1% of resuscitation admissions on 04/05 in Italy and no child under the age of 15 died from COVID. A death occurred in a 16-year-old girl.
In addition, the description of 365 children examined in Rome (the tests were carried out on hospitalized girls or boys with comorbidities and symptoms compatible with COVID). The positivity rate of the samples was around 6% the first week and 11% at the end of the second.
Children who had been in contact with a positive case more frequently had a positive sample. Among the 41 COVID-positive children, 4 required respiratory assistance (optiflow, NIV, or intimation) and 11 had comorbidities.
Read more World News and Science News on WeeklyReviewer
