COVID-19 among children seeking primary paediatric care with signs of an acute infection

  • Aim: It can be challenging to distinguish COVID-19 in children from other common infections. We set out to determine the rate at which children consulting a primary care paediatrician with an acute infection are infected with SARS-CoV-2 and to compare distinct findings. Method: In seven out-patient clinics, children aged 0–13 years with any new respiratory or gastrointestinal symptoms and presumed infection were invited to be tested for SARS-CoV-2. Factors that were correlated with testing positive were determined. Samples were collected from 25 January 2021 to 01 April 2021. Results: Seven hundred and eighty-three children participated in the study (median age 3 years and 0 months, range 1 month to 12 years and 11 months). Three hundred and fifty-eight were female (45.7%). SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in 19 (2.4%). The most common symptoms in children with as well as without detectable SARS-CoV-2 RNA were rhinitis, fever and cough. Known recent exposure to a case of COVID-19 was significantly correlated with testing positive, but symptoms or clinical findings were not. Conclusion: COVID-19 among the children with symptoms of an acute infection was uncommon, and the clinical presentation did not differ significantly between children with and without evidence of an infection with SARS-CoV-2.
Metadaten
Author:Sebastian HoehlORCiDGND, Felix Schneider, Martin Eckrich, Tim Ole Gründler, Silvija-Pera JerkicORCiD, Geri Lichtenstein, Birgit Melcher, Hansjörg Melcher, Ralf Moebus, Barbara Mühlfeld, Ilonka Rieger, Beate Seger-Fritz, Stefan Sgoll, Christian Walter, Sebastian Werner, Eva HerrmannORCiDGND, Annemarie BergerGND, Sandra CiesekORCiDGND
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-639018
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.16101
ISSN:1651-2227
Parent Title (English):Acta paediatrica
Publisher:Wiley-Blackwell
Place of publication:Oxford [u.a.]
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Date of Publication (online):2021/09/15
Date of first Publication:2021/09/15
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2022/04/04
Tag:COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; influenza; out-patient paediatrics; respiratory tract infection
Volume:110
Issue:12
Page Number:7
First Page:3315
Last Page:3321
Note:
The study was supported by Roche Diagnostics, Basel, Switzerland.
HeBIS-PPN:493354115
Institutes:Medizin
Dewey Decimal Classification:6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 61 Medizin und Gesundheit / 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
Sammlungen:Universitätspublikationen
Licence (German):License LogoCreative Commons - Namensnennung-Nicht kommerziell - Keine Bearbeitung 4.0