Novel coronavirus infection and children

Abstract

Background and aim: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Its outbreak in many states of the world, forced the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a pandemic. Currently, COVID-19 has infected 1 991 562 patients causing 130 885 deaths globally as of 16 April 2020. The aim of this review is to underline the epidemiological, clinical and management characteristics in children affected by COVID-19.

Methods: We searched Pubmed, from January to April 2020, for the following search terms: "COVID-19", "children", "SARS-COV2", "complications", "epidemiology", "clinical features", focusing our attention mostly on epidemiology and symptoms of COVID-19 in children.

Results: Usually, infants and children present milder symptoms of the disease with a better outcome than adults. Consequently, children may be considered an infection reservoir that may play a role as spreader of the infection in community.

Figure 1.

Chest X-ray of a 4-year old patient with Covid-19, admitted for high fever and dry cough. Reticular interstitial densities and bilateral lung involvement are shown.

Figure 2.

Lung Ultrasound of a 6-year child with Covid-19 and admitted for fever and cough. Vertical artifacts, named B lines, are shown, with increased thickness of pleural line.