Based on some of the earliest cases in 2019 and through the start of the global pandemic in the spring of 2020, an Italian research team conducted a systematic review of more than a dozen studies featuring 1,065 patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
The systematic review, involving 18 studies released between December 2019 up until March 2020, reflected confirmed pediatric cases in China and one isolated case in Singapore. Of the participants in those studies, close to half were younger than 10 years old and the remaining larger half were aged 10 to 19.
In the new study, posted online in JAMA Pediatrics, the Italian researchers intricated the presentation of mild symptoms by many of the young participants; symptoms included dry cough, fatigue, fever, and respiratory difficulties. “Bronchial thickening and ground-glass opacities were the main radiologic features, and these findings were also reported in asymptomatic patients,” the findings noted.
According to their findings, most of the cases were pediatric patients, with the majority of them having exhibited only mild symptoms and reached full recovery within 1 to 2 weeks of treatment intervention.
Additionally, of all the confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection, researchers reported no casualties among the participants belonging to the youngest age group: 1 to 9 years of age.
“This systematic review assesses and summarizes clinical features and management of children with COVID-19,” the findings say. “Children mainly acquire SARS-CoV-2 infection from their family members but seem to experience less severe COVID-19 than adults, presenting mild symptoms, if any, good prognosis, and recovering within 1 to 2 weeks after disease onset.”
“The quick worldwide spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection and the lack of European and US data on pediatric patients require further epidemiologic and clinical studies to identify possible preventive and therapeutic strategies.”
