BACKGROUND
Few paediatric cases of COVID-19 have been reported and we know little about the epidemiology in children, though more is known about other coronaviruses. We aimed to understand the infection rate, clinical presentation, clinical outcomes and transmission dynamics for SARS-CoV-2, in order to inform clinical and public health measures.
METHODS
We undertook a rapid systematic review and narrative synthesis of all literature relating to SARS-CoV-2 in paediatric populations. The search terms also included SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. We searched three databases and the COVID-19 resource centres of eleven major journals and publishers. English abstracts of Chinese language papers were included. Data were extracted and narrative syntheses conducted.
RESULTS
24 studies relating to COVID-19 were included in the review. Children appear to be less affected by COVID-19 than adults by observed rate of cases in large epidemiological studies. Limited data on attack rate indicate that children are just as susceptible to infection. Data on clinical outcomes are scarce but include several reports of asymptomatic infection and a milder course of disease in young children, though radiological abnormalities are noted. Severe cases are not reported in detail and there are little data relating to transmission.
CONCLUSIONS
Children appear to have a low observed case rate of COVID-19 but may have similar rates to adults of infection with SARS-CoV-2. This discrepancy may be because children are asymptomatic or too mildly infected to draw medical attention, be tested and counted in observed cases of COVID-19.
Initial reports from China observed low rates of COVID-19 in children compared to adults. Emerging evidence suggests that children may be infected at the same rate as adults but are more likely to experience asymptomatic or mild disease.
There is a strong association between the prevalence of DF and symptoms, in particular itchy eyes. However, not all patients with DF will be symptomatic. The newly developed questionnaire is a reliable instrument for measuring change in symptoms over a period of time and suitable for observing patient reported outcomes in interventional treatment studies.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.