Infants and neonates are more vulnerable to more severe COVID-19 disease than older children

Objectives:
What are the clinical characteristics of COVID-19 in neonates and children under one year of age?

Study design:
This review article included 18 papers covering 160 infants. One paper was from Vietnam and the other 17 were from China: 8 were cross-sectional studies, 8 were case reports, 1 was a case series and 1 was a prospective cohort study.

Results and conclusions:   
The investigators found the most common clinical symptoms were fever (54%) and cough (33%).

The investigators found most infants were treated symptomatically, with frequent use of various empirical medications.

The investigators found infants and neonates tended to have more severe COVID-19 disease than older children: 11 (7%) were admitted to intensive care and one infant died.

The investigators found the mortality rate was 0.006%, with favourable outcomes in most cases.

The investigators concluded infants and neonates are more vulnerable to more severe COVID-19 disease than older children, but morbidity and mortality are low.

Original title:
Novel Coronavirus Infection (COVID-19) in Children Younger Than One Year: A Systematic Review of Symptoms, Management and Outcomes by Raba AA, Abobaker  A, […], Daoud A.

Link:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32557789/

Additional information of El Mondo:
Find more information/studies on coronavirus right here.