Cargando…

Comparison of the Clinical and Laboratory Features of COVID and Influenza in Children

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by SARS-CoV-2 and has a clinical presentation ranging from an asymptomatic course to flu-like syndrome up to respiratory failure. Seasonal Influenza, due to the influenza viruses and very common in children, can cause symptoms...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Pata, Davide, Buonsenso, Danilo, Valentini, Piero
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9448268/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36119462
http://dx.doi.org/10.4084/MJHID.2022.065
_version_ 1784784033717157888
author Pata, Davide
Buonsenso, Danilo
Valentini, Piero
author_facet Pata, Davide
Buonsenso, Danilo
Valentini, Piero
author_sort Pata, Davide
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by SARS-CoV-2 and has a clinical presentation ranging from an asymptomatic course to flu-like syndrome up to respiratory failure. Seasonal Influenza, due to the influenza viruses and very common in children, can cause symptoms similar to COVID-19. In order to identify clinical and laboratory characteristics that allow healthcare workers to differentiate COVID-19 from Influenza, we performed a systematic review of the existing literature on the pediatric age. Methods. The research was done via PubMed for articles published from March 2020 to October 2021, combining the MeSH words "COVID-19" and "Influenza" and "Children" and considering the suggestions of the PRISMA Group. RESULTS: The most frequently described symptoms were fever and cough in both groups. In most studies, high fever, cough, nasal congestion or rhinorrhea, vomiting, and muscle pain were detected more frequently in the Influenza group. Regarding the value of laboratory tests, the results were mixed. Almost all studies reported significantly lower levels of C-reactive protein and procalcitonin in the COVID-19 group than in the Influenza group. In most manuscripts, COVID-19 had a milder course than Influenza. CONCLUSIONS: No symptoms are characteristic of a single infectious agent, with flu-like disorders being the most common. In addition, laboratory tests do not help in the differential diagnosis; however, they show a limited inflammatory response in COVID-19, which could explain the fewer complications compared to adulthood, with a less severe clinical course.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9448268
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-94482682022-09-15 Comparison of the Clinical and Laboratory Features of COVID and Influenza in Children Pata, Davide Buonsenso, Danilo Valentini, Piero Mediterr J Hematol Infect Dis Review Article BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by SARS-CoV-2 and has a clinical presentation ranging from an asymptomatic course to flu-like syndrome up to respiratory failure. Seasonal Influenza, due to the influenza viruses and very common in children, can cause symptoms similar to COVID-19. In order to identify clinical and laboratory characteristics that allow healthcare workers to differentiate COVID-19 from Influenza, we performed a systematic review of the existing literature on the pediatric age. Methods. The research was done via PubMed for articles published from March 2020 to October 2021, combining the MeSH words "COVID-19" and "Influenza" and "Children" and considering the suggestions of the PRISMA Group. RESULTS: The most frequently described symptoms were fever and cough in both groups. In most studies, high fever, cough, nasal congestion or rhinorrhea, vomiting, and muscle pain were detected more frequently in the Influenza group. Regarding the value of laboratory tests, the results were mixed. Almost all studies reported significantly lower levels of C-reactive protein and procalcitonin in the COVID-19 group than in the Influenza group. In most manuscripts, COVID-19 had a milder course than Influenza. CONCLUSIONS: No symptoms are characteristic of a single infectious agent, with flu-like disorders being the most common. In addition, laboratory tests do not help in the differential diagnosis; however, they show a limited inflammatory response in COVID-19, which could explain the fewer complications compared to adulthood, with a less severe clinical course. Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore 2022-09-01 /pmc/articles/PMC9448268/ /pubmed/36119462 http://dx.doi.org/10.4084/MJHID.2022.065 Text en https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Review Article
Pata, Davide
Buonsenso, Danilo
Valentini, Piero
Comparison of the Clinical and Laboratory Features of COVID and Influenza in Children
title Comparison of the Clinical and Laboratory Features of COVID and Influenza in Children
title_full Comparison of the Clinical and Laboratory Features of COVID and Influenza in Children
title_fullStr Comparison of the Clinical and Laboratory Features of COVID and Influenza in Children
title_full_unstemmed Comparison of the Clinical and Laboratory Features of COVID and Influenza in Children
title_short Comparison of the Clinical and Laboratory Features of COVID and Influenza in Children
title_sort comparison of the clinical and laboratory features of covid and influenza in children
topic Review Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9448268/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36119462
http://dx.doi.org/10.4084/MJHID.2022.065
work_keys_str_mv AT patadavide comparisonoftheclinicalandlaboratoryfeaturesofcovidandinfluenzainchildren
AT buonsensodanilo comparisonoftheclinicalandlaboratoryfeaturesofcovidandinfluenzainchildren
AT valentinipiero comparisonoftheclinicalandlaboratoryfeaturesofcovidandinfluenzainchildren