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Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 virus in ambulatory children under 2 years old

BACKGROUND: SARS-CoV-2 is an emerging virus that has mainly affected adults; hence, most clinical information has been derived from that population. Most pediatric cases are mild and with nonspecific symptoms requiring outpatient management. Children are a major source of spread for most traditional...

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Autores principales: Perez, Carolina A., Ormazabal, Ivana, Pérez-Valenzuela, Javier, Araya, Andrea, Medina, Rafael A., Perret, Cecilia
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9745022/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36523397
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fped.2022.957273
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author Perez, Carolina A.
Ormazabal, Ivana
Pérez-Valenzuela, Javier
Araya, Andrea
Medina, Rafael A.
Perret, Cecilia
author_facet Perez, Carolina A.
Ormazabal, Ivana
Pérez-Valenzuela, Javier
Araya, Andrea
Medina, Rafael A.
Perret, Cecilia
author_sort Perez, Carolina A.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: SARS-CoV-2 is an emerging virus that has mainly affected adults; hence, most clinical information has been derived from that population. Most pediatric cases are mild and with nonspecific symptoms requiring outpatient management. Children are a major source of spread for most traditional respiratory viruses. Their role in SARS-CoV-2 transmission was thought to be relevant. Children under the age of two comprise a group that is more susceptible to infection since vaccines have not been approved for them until recently. The knowledge of clinical manifestation of COVID-19 in young children is scarce. OBJECTIVES: To describe the clinical, epidemiological, and demographic characteristics of children under 2 years old with confirmed COVID-19, who did not require hospitalization. METHODS: This descriptive study was performed from May, 2020 to June, 2021. Children ages 0–2 years with COVID-19, confirmed by transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction assay that were performed in laboratories of the Red de Salud UC CHRISTUS Health Network, were selected to be contacted. If the parents accepted participating and their children were not hospitalized, a survey was sent to the patients' caregivers. RESULTS: Of the 242 cases, 159 caregivers answered the survey (65.7%). The median age of the subjects was 14 months, and 53.5% were males. Fifty percent had comorbidities, of which one third corresponded to atopy. Ninety eight percent were secondary cases. Most of them were infected within their households (81%). The most frequent sources were their parents, followed by their grandparents. The most common symptom was fever (78%) followed by irritability (67.3%), rhinorrhea (66%), and fatigue (64.8%). Infants less than 6 months old more often presented with conjunctival congestion and less loss of appetite compared to older children (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides valuable insights regarding COVID-19 in ambulatory young children. Most cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children under 2 years old do not require hospitalization. There was a slight male predominance, and the majority had been infected within their households. SARS-CoV-2 infection should be suspected in children under 2 years old presenting with fever, irritability, fatigue, and rhinorrhea. Children with positive household contacts and fever should also be tested for COVID-19.
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spelling pubmed-97450222022-12-14 Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 virus in ambulatory children under 2 years old Perez, Carolina A. Ormazabal, Ivana Pérez-Valenzuela, Javier Araya, Andrea Medina, Rafael A. Perret, Cecilia Front Pediatr Pediatrics BACKGROUND: SARS-CoV-2 is an emerging virus that has mainly affected adults; hence, most clinical information has been derived from that population. Most pediatric cases are mild and with nonspecific symptoms requiring outpatient management. Children are a major source of spread for most traditional respiratory viruses. Their role in SARS-CoV-2 transmission was thought to be relevant. Children under the age of two comprise a group that is more susceptible to infection since vaccines have not been approved for them until recently. The knowledge of clinical manifestation of COVID-19 in young children is scarce. OBJECTIVES: To describe the clinical, epidemiological, and demographic characteristics of children under 2 years old with confirmed COVID-19, who did not require hospitalization. METHODS: This descriptive study was performed from May, 2020 to June, 2021. Children ages 0–2 years with COVID-19, confirmed by transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction assay that were performed in laboratories of the Red de Salud UC CHRISTUS Health Network, were selected to be contacted. If the parents accepted participating and their children were not hospitalized, a survey was sent to the patients' caregivers. RESULTS: Of the 242 cases, 159 caregivers answered the survey (65.7%). The median age of the subjects was 14 months, and 53.5% were males. Fifty percent had comorbidities, of which one third corresponded to atopy. Ninety eight percent were secondary cases. Most of them were infected within their households (81%). The most frequent sources were their parents, followed by their grandparents. The most common symptom was fever (78%) followed by irritability (67.3%), rhinorrhea (66%), and fatigue (64.8%). Infants less than 6 months old more often presented with conjunctival congestion and less loss of appetite compared to older children (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides valuable insights regarding COVID-19 in ambulatory young children. Most cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children under 2 years old do not require hospitalization. There was a slight male predominance, and the majority had been infected within their households. SARS-CoV-2 infection should be suspected in children under 2 years old presenting with fever, irritability, fatigue, and rhinorrhea. Children with positive household contacts and fever should also be tested for COVID-19. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-11-29 /pmc/articles/PMC9745022/ /pubmed/36523397 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fped.2022.957273 Text en © 2022 Perez, Ormazabal, Pérez-Valenzuela, Araya, Medina and Perret. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Pediatrics
Perez, Carolina A.
Ormazabal, Ivana
Pérez-Valenzuela, Javier
Araya, Andrea
Medina, Rafael A.
Perret, Cecilia
Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 virus in ambulatory children under 2 years old
title Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 virus in ambulatory children under 2 years old
title_full Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 virus in ambulatory children under 2 years old
title_fullStr Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 virus in ambulatory children under 2 years old
title_full_unstemmed Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 virus in ambulatory children under 2 years old
title_short Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 virus in ambulatory children under 2 years old
title_sort clinical and epidemiological characteristics of sars-cov-2 virus in ambulatory children under 2 years old
topic Pediatrics
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9745022/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36523397
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fped.2022.957273
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