Open AccessThe epidemiology and examination of clinical outcomes in children with COVID-19: A research overview
Author(s) -
Bindu John
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
ip international journal of medical paediatrics and oncology/ip international journal of medical paediatrics and oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2581-4702
pISSN - 2581-4699
DOI - 10.18231/j.ijmpo.2021.024
Subject(s) - medicine , epidemiology , asymptomatic , incidence (geometry) , pandemic , population , disease , pediatrics , covid-19 , incubation period , viral shedding , immunology , virus , infectious disease (medical specialty) , environmental health , biochemistry , chemistry , physics , incubation , optics
COVID- 19 pandemic has affected hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, and so far, accounted for 0.39-12.3% of affected disease population. Even though a large number of studies have reviewed symptoms and characteristics of adults with COVID-19, only some of them have included a smaller number of children. This study aimed a) To examine the epidemiological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 infection reported in children from published studies b) To outline the signs and symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection reported in children from the research studies and c) To provide converging evidence of the clinical outcomes and prognosis of children affected with SARS-CoV-2 infection from reported studies. A literature review was conducted through online sources of data base available in the internet. Studies published from Jan 2020 up to September 2021 were included. The organism causing infection was the novel Corona virus (SARS-CoV-2). In children, almost 0.39-12.3% of the population was affected. A slight predominance of boys vs. girls was noted, but it was not statistically significant. The incubation period ranged from 2-14 days. Nearly 51% of children were presenting with mild disease and nearly 4% were asymptomatic. The children also presented with non-respiratory symptoms, but the exact figures were not available. Multisystem inflammatory response was the most common reported complication. Current findings indicate that children have a lower incidence of the disease, with milder predominance and better prognosis, but prolonged shedding of virus in the nasal and stools sample and being asymptomatic raises a concern of community transmission.