Qingdao Women and Children's Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, China.
Contributed equally as co-first authors.
Pediatrics. 2020 Jul;146(1). doi: 10.1542/peds.2020-0961. Epub 2020 May 6.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a newly identified pathogen that mainly spreads by droplets. Most published studies have been focused on adult patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but data concerning pediatric patients are limited. In this study, we aimed to determine epidemiological characteristics and clinical features of pediatric patients with COVID-19.
We reviewed and analyzed data on pediatric patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, including basic information, epidemiological history, clinical manifestations, laboratory and radiologic findings, treatment, outcome, and follow-up results.
A total of 74 pediatric patients with COVID-19 were included in this study. Of the 68 case patients whose epidemiological data were complete, 65 (65 of 68; 95.59%) were household contacts of adults. Cough (32.43%) and fever (27.03%) were the predominant symptoms of 44 (59.46%) symptomatic patients at onset of the illness. Abnormalities in leukocyte count were found in 23 (31.08%) children, and 10 (13.51%) children presented with abnormal lymphocyte count. Of the 34 (45.95%) patients who had nucleic acid testing results for common respiratory pathogens, 19 (51.35%) showed coinfection with other pathogens other than SARS-CoV-2. Ten (13.51%) children had real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis for fecal specimens, and 8 of them showed prolonged existence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA.
Pediatric patients with COVID-19 presented with distinct epidemiological, clinical, and radiologic characteristics from adult patients. Nearly one-half of the infected children had coinfection with other common respiratory pathogens. It is not uncommon for pediatric patients to have prolonged fecal shedding of SARS-CoV-2 RNA during the convalescent phase.
严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2（SARS-CoV-2）是一种新发现的病原体，主要通过飞沫传播。大多数已发表的研究都集中在患有 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）的成年患者上，但有关儿科患者的数据有限。本研究旨在确定 COVID-19 儿科患者的流行病学特征和临床特征。
我们回顾性分析了实验室确诊的 COVID-19 儿科患者的资料，包括基本信息、流行病学史、临床表现、实验室和影像学检查结果、治疗、转归和随访结果。
本研究共纳入 74 例 COVID-19 儿科患者。在 68 例流行病学资料完整的病例患者中，65 例（65/68；95.59%）为成人的家庭接触者。44 例（59.46%）有症状患儿起病时主要表现为咳嗽（32.43%）和发热（27.03%）。23 例（31.08%）患儿白细胞计数异常，10 例（13.51%）患儿淋巴细胞计数异常。34 例（45.95%）患儿进行了常见呼吸道病原体核酸检测，其中 19 例（51.35%）除 SARS-CoV-2 外还合并其他病原体感染。10 例（13.51%）患儿进行了粪便标本实时逆转录聚合酶链反应分析，其中 8 例患儿粪便标本 SARS-CoV-2 RNA 持续存在。
COVID-19 儿科患者的流行病学、临床和影像学特征与成年患者不同。近一半的感染患儿合并其他常见呼吸道病原体感染。在恢复期，儿科患者粪便中 SARS-CoV-2 RNA 持续存在并不少见。
