Majority of Children Infected With COVID-19 Virus May Not Show Typical Symptoms

By scientific reports May 13, 2021

The majority of children infected with SARS-CoV-2 may not show typical symptoms such as fever, cough, or shortness of breath, according to a study published in Scientific Reports, which examined data from 12,306 children with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 across the United States .

Pakaj Arora and colleagues found that 18.8% of the children included in the study had symptoms such as fever, malaise, muscle or joint pain, and disturbances in smell or taste. . 16.5% of the children had respiratory symptoms including cough and shortness of breath, 13.9% had gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, 8.1% had dermatological symptoms (rash) and 4.8% had headache.

5.5% (672) of the children enrolled in the study were hospitalized. Of these, 118 (17.6%) and 38 (4.1%) required intensive care and mechanical ventilation, respectively. The risk of hospitalization was similar between men and women, but higher in non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic children compared to non-Hispanic White children. The risk of requiring critical care and mechanical ventilation was the same in all groups.

The findings suggest that children and adolescents with COVID-19 may have a milder disease course than adults, but differences in severity appear to exist between non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic and non-Hispanic White children in the US. Given the high frequency of cases without typical symptoms, increased vigilance, innovative screening, and frequent testing may be required in school-aged children and their direct contacts when schools reopen. Implementation of these strategies may need to be improved in racial / ethnic minority children to reduce existing COVID-19-related health inequalities.

Reference: “A retrospective cohort study of 12,306 pediatric COVID-19 patients in the United States” May 13, 2021, Scientific Reports.
DOI: 10.1038 / s41598-021-89553-1