Koh Elizabeth S, Kacker Ashutosh, Maresh Alison M, Modi Vikash K, Rosenblatt Steven D, Jones Jacqueline E
Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery Weill Cornell Medicine New York New York USA.
Laryngoscope Investig Otolaryngol. 2023 Mar 21;8(2):599-603. doi: 10.1002/lio2.1046. eCollection 2023 Apr.
Children infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are less clinically affected than adults, with most cases presenting as asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic. However, true rates of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection in children remain unclear. We sought to examine rates of SARS-CoV-2 in asymptomatic children and the role of children in transmission.
We performed a retrospective review of patients between 6 months and 17 years of age who underwent elective or semi-elective otolaryngologic surgery with physicians affiliated with Weill Cornell Medicine between May 15, 2020 and March 31, 2022. Patients were included if they received molecular assay testing for SARS-CoV-2 without SARS-CoV-2 symptoms within 5 days of scheduled surgery. SARS-CoV-2 infection status, exposure, clinical symptoms, demographic data, and insurance status were recorded.
1047 patients met inclusion criteria. Thirteen positive cases (1.24%) were identified in the study population. Six cases occurred between December 2021 and February 2022 following the classification of the omicron variant as a variant of concern in November 2021. Five of the 13 cases occurred in children under 2 years of age. Seven patients were male, and five were female. Residences spanned all five boroughs of New York City and the surrounding metropolitan area.
Throughout the pandemic, children have had a low rate of asymptomatic disease and likely pose a low risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to the general population. Our results suggest that testing of asymptomatic children is a low-yield practice that is unlikely to influence rates of SARS-CoV-2 in the general population.
感染严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）的儿童在临床上受到的影响比成人小，大多数病例表现为无症状或症状轻微。然而，儿童无症状SARS-CoV-2感染的真实发生率仍不清楚。我们试图研究无症状儿童中SARS-CoV-2的感染率以及儿童在传播中的作用。
我们对2020年5月15日至2022年3月31日期间在威尔康奈尔医学院附属医生处接受择期或半择期耳鼻喉科手术的6个月至17岁患者进行了回顾性研究。如果患者在预定手术前5天内接受了SARS-CoV-2分子检测且没有SARS-CoV-2症状，则纳入研究。记录SARS-CoV-2感染状况、接触情况、临床症状、人口统计学数据和保险状况。
1047例患者符合纳入标准。在研究人群中确定了13例阳性病例（1.24%）。在2021年11月将奥密克戎变异株列为关注变异株之后，2021年12月至2022年2月期间出现了6例病例。13例病例中有5例发生在2岁以下儿童中。7例患者为男性，5例为女性。居住地点涵盖纽约市的所有五个行政区以及周边大都市地区。
在整个疫情期间，儿童无症状疾病的发生率较低，可能向普通人群传播SARS-CoV-2的风险也较低。我们的结果表明，对无症状儿童进行检测是一种收益较低的做法，不太可能影响普通人群中SARS-CoV-2的感染率。
3级。
