Comparative analysis of clinical features of SARS-CoV-2 and adenovirus infection among children

BACKGROUND: The new emerging coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) overall shares similar symptoms with other common respiratory viral infections. We aimed in this study to compare COVID-19 and human adenovirus (HAdV) infections in pediatric patients regarding the frequencies of major clinical symptoms and the potential disparities in laboratory and imaging parameters. METHODS: Following a case–control-like design, we built 72 age-matched pediatric COVID-19 and HAdV patient pairs. Their early symptoms and laboratory and imaging characteristics were then retrieved and compared. RESULTS: Fever and cough were the most common symptoms for both infections but were seen more often in HAdV than in COVID-19 patients (92% vs. 66% and 60% vs. 18%, respectively). Compared with COVID-19 patients, children with HAdV infection had statistically significantly higher values of neutrophil count, neutrophil percentage, activated partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin time, lactate dehydrogenase, C-reactive protein, procalcitonin but lower values of lymphocyte percentage, total bilirubin, potassium and sodium. Thoracic computed tomography also revealed more anomalies in HAdV patients than in COVID-19 patients (95% vs. 67%). CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 is an overall less symptomatic and less severe infection at admission compared to HAdV respiratory infection in pediatric population.