Abstract Objective To study the differences in the clinical features of children with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in different age groups during the epidemic of Omicron variant. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 211 children with COVID-19 who were admitted to the Department of General Pediatrics, Zhongshan People's Hospital, from December 9, 2022 to January 8, 2023. According to their age, they were divided into 4 groups: 1 month-<1 year (n=84), 1-<3 years group (n=64), 3-<5 years (n=29), and ≥5 years (n=34). The above groups were compared in terms of general status, clinical features, ancillary examination results, treatment, and outcome. Results The children aged <3 years accounted for 70.1% (148/211) of all hospitalized children with COVID-19, and the 3-<5 years group and the ≥5 years group had a significantly higher proportion of children with underlying diseases than the 1 month-<1 year group and the 1-<3 years group (P<0.05). Compared with the other three groups, the 1 month-<1 year group had significantly higher incidence rates of dyspnea, nasal congestion/nasal discharge, diarrhea and significantly lower incidence rates of convulsion and nervous system involvement (P<0.05). Moreover, compared with the other three groups, the 1 month-<1 year group had significantly higher incidence rates of increases in bile acid and creatine kinase isoenzyme and significantly lower incidence rates of decreased platelet count, increased neutrophil percentage, and decreased lymphocyte percentage (P<0.05). The 1 month-<1 year group had a significantly higher incidence rate of mild COVID-19 than the 1-<3 years group and a significantly lower incidence rate of severe/critical COVID-19 than the other three groups (P<0.05). Compared with the other three groups, the 1 month-<1 year group had a significantly higher proportion of children receiving oxygen inhalation therapy (P<0.05). Conclusions Children with COVID-19 in different age groups have different clinical features during the epidemic of Omicron variant, especially between the children aged 1 month to <1 year and those aged ≥1 year.
JIANG Qing-Lian,WANG Feng-Yan,ZHENG Kai-Jun. Clinical features of children with coronavirus disease 2019 in different age groups during the epidemic of Omicron variant[J]. CJCP, 2023, 25(6): 600-605.
JIANG Qing-Lian,WANG Feng-Yan,ZHENG Kai-Jun. Clinical features of children with coronavirus disease 2019 in different age groups during the epidemic of Omicron variant[J]. CJCP, 2023, 25(6): 600-605.
Menni C, Valdes AM, Polidori L, et al. Symptom prevalence, duration, and risk of hospital admission in individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 during periods of Omicron and Delta variant dominance: a prospective observational study from the ZOE COVID Study[J]. Lancet, 2022, 399(10335): 1618-1624. PMID: 35397851. PMCID: PMC8989396. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(22)00327-0.
O'Driscoll M, Ribeiro Dos Santos G, Wang L, et al. Age-specific mortality and immunity patterns of SARS-CoV-2[J]. Nature, 2021, 590(7844): 140-145. PMID: 33137809. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2918-0.
Pokorska-?piewak M, Talarek E, Mania A, et al. Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of 1283 pediatric patients with coronavirus disease 2019 during the first and second waves of the pandemic-results of the pediatric part of a multicenter Polish register SARSTer[J]. J Clin Med, 2021, 10(21): 5098. PMID: 34768620. PMCID: PMC8585006. DOI: 10.3390/jcm10215098.
Ward JL, Harwood R, Smith C, et al. Risk factors for PICU admission and death among children and young people hospitalized with COVID-19 and PIMS-TS in England during the first pandemic year[J]. Nat Med, 2022, 28(1): 193-200. PMID: 34931076. DOI: 10.1038/s41591-021-01627-9.
Cloete J, Kruger A, Masha M, et al. Paediatric hospitalisations due to COVID-19 during the first SARS-CoV-2 Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant wave in South Africa: a multicentre observational study[J]. Lancet Child Adolesc Health, 2022, 6(5): 294-302. PMID: 35189083. PMCID: PMC8856663. DOI: 10.1016/S2352-4642(22)00027-X.
Bova SM, Serafini L, Serati I, et al. Seizures may be an early sign of acute COVID-19, and the Omicron variant could present a more epileptogenic profile[J]. Acta Paediatr, 2022, 111(9): 1814-1815. PMID: 35615863. PMCID: PMC9348245. DOI: 10.1111/apa.16424.
Zong X, Gu Y, Yu H, et al. Thrombocytopenia is associated with COVID-19 severity and outcome: an updated meta-analysis of 5637 patients with multiple outcomes[J]. Lab Med, 2021, 52(1): 10-15. PMID: 32929506. PMCID: PMC7543465. DOI: 10.1093/labmed/lmaa067.
Singh A, Bhadani PP, Surabhi, et al. Significance of immune-inflammatory markers in predicting clinical outcome of COVID-19 patients[J]. Indian J Pathol Microbiol, 2023, 66(1): 111-117. PMID: 36656221. DOI: 10.4103/ijpm.ijpm_658_21.
