Download This Paper
Preprints with The Lancet is part of SSRN´s First Look, a place where journals identify content of interest prior to publication. Authors have opted in at submission to The Lancet family of journals to post their preprints on Preprints with The Lancet. The usual SSRN checks and a Lancet-specific check for appropriateness and transparency have been applied. Preprints available here are not Lancet publications or necessarily under review with a Lancet journal. These preprints are early stage research papers that have not been peer-reviewed. The findings should not be used for clinical or public health decision making and should not be presented to a lay audience without highlighting that they are preliminary and have not been peer-reviewed. For more information on this collaboration, see the comments published in The Lancet about the trial period, and our decision to make this a permanent offering, or visit The Lancet´s FAQ page, and for any feedback please contact preprints@lancet.com.
Epidemiological and Clinical Characteristics of Children with Mild COVID-19 and Clinical Significance of SARS-CoV-2 Antibody
16 Pages Posted: 30 Jun 2020
More...Abstract
Background: COVID-19 cases in children are gradually increasing with limited information. Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of children with mild disease in Rebuilded Basic-level Hospital were analysed.
Methods: Patients (aged ≤18 years) diagnosed with mild COVID-19 in Rebuilded Basic- level Hospital in Wuhan were included. Demographic, clinical relative data during their hospitalisation and isolation were collected. Retrospective analysis was performed.
Findings: Overall, 1124 patients with mild COVID-19 were admitted, of whom thirteen were children (1·16%) and residents of Wuhan with a median age of 16 years (53·8% male). The source of infection was unknown in 30·8% of children. Four patients (30·8%) had abnormal lung computed tomography (CT) findings. Six children (46·2%) had not symptoms with normal CT. During hospitalisation, twice SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid tests were negative shown in 11 patients, and they were discharged from the hospital. Four times SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid tests of two children (15.4%) were positive and they transferred to another hospital, leading to loss of follow-up. The SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG tests were performed at least once in eight children, six of their IgM were within the normal reference value and the IgG increased. A dynamic increasing trend of IgG was showed in two children; Twice IgM and IgG tests were within the normal reference values in two children. Among the eleven follow-up children, one had positive results for twice SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acids tests during isolation.
Interpretation: Some children had uncertain contact history and no clinical symptoms. The etiological diagnosis of children was more important than clinical diagnosis. Disappearance of clinical manifestations of children and the SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid test with positive result were not parallel. SARS-CoV-2 had long detoxification time, and SARS-CoV-2 cases with positive results appeared again.
Funding Statement: None.
Declaration of Interests: None exist.
Ethics Approval Statement: This case series was approved by the institutional ethics board of the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University (No. LYF2020060). All patients agreed that their medical materials could be quoted and published by doctors.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Children; Antibody
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation