tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Arch Dis Child
. 2020 Aug 12;archdischild-2020-320042.
doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2020-320042. Online ahead of print.
COVID-19 in children: analysis of the first pandemic peak in England
Shamez N Ladhani[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Zahin Amin-Chowdhury[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Hannah G Davies[SUP] 3 2 [/SUP], Felicity Aiano[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Iain Hayden[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Joanne Lacy[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Mary Sinnathamby[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Simon de Lusignan[SUP] 4 5 [/SUP], Alicia Demirjian[SUP] 5 6 7 [/SUP], Heather Whittaker[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Nick Andrews[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Maria Zambon[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Susan Hopkins[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Mary Elizabeth Ramsay[SUP] 3 10 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Objectives: To assess disease trends, testing practices, community surveillance, case-fatality and excess deaths in children as compared with adults during the first pandemic peak in England.
Setting: England.
Participants: Children with COVID-19 between January and May 2020.
Main outcome measures: Trends in confirmed COVID-19 cases, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) positivity rates in children compared with adults; community prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in children with acute respiratory infection (ARI) compared with adults, case-fatality rate in children with confirmed COVID-19 and excess childhood deaths compared with the previous 5 years.
Results: Children represented 1.1% (1,408/129,704) of SARS-CoV-2 positive cases between 16 January 2020 and 3 May 2020. In total, 540 305 people were tested for SARS-COV-2 and 129,704 (24.0%) were positive. In children aged <16 years, 35,200 tests were performed and 1408 (4.0%) were positive for SARS-CoV-2, compared to 19.1%-34.9% adults. Childhood cases increased from mid-March and peaked on 11 April before declining. Among 2,961 individuals presenting with ARI in primary care, 351 were children and 10 (2.8%) were positive compared with 9.3%-45.5% in adults. Eight children died and four (case-fatality rate, 0.3%; 95% CI 0.07% to 0.7%) were due to COVID-19. We found no evidence of excess mortality in children.
Conclusions: Children accounted for a very small proportion of confirmed cases despite the large numbers of children tested. SARS-CoV-2 positivity was low even in children with ARI. Our findings provide further evidence against the role of children in infection and transmission of SARS-CoV-2.
Keywords: epidemiology; virology.
. 2020 Aug 12;archdischild-2020-320042.
doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2020-320042. Online ahead of print.
COVID-19 in children: analysis of the first pandemic peak in England
Shamez N Ladhani[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Zahin Amin-Chowdhury[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Hannah G Davies[SUP] 3 2 [/SUP], Felicity Aiano[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Iain Hayden[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Joanne Lacy[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Mary Sinnathamby[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Simon de Lusignan[SUP] 4 5 [/SUP], Alicia Demirjian[SUP] 5 6 7 [/SUP], Heather Whittaker[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Nick Andrews[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Maria Zambon[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Susan Hopkins[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Mary Elizabeth Ramsay[SUP] 3 10 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 32796006
- DOI: 10.1136/archdischild-2020-320042
Abstract
Objectives: To assess disease trends, testing practices, community surveillance, case-fatality and excess deaths in children as compared with adults during the first pandemic peak in England.
Setting: England.
Participants: Children with COVID-19 between January and May 2020.
Main outcome measures: Trends in confirmed COVID-19 cases, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) positivity rates in children compared with adults; community prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in children with acute respiratory infection (ARI) compared with adults, case-fatality rate in children with confirmed COVID-19 and excess childhood deaths compared with the previous 5 years.
Results: Children represented 1.1% (1,408/129,704) of SARS-CoV-2 positive cases between 16 January 2020 and 3 May 2020. In total, 540 305 people were tested for SARS-COV-2 and 129,704 (24.0%) were positive. In children aged <16 years, 35,200 tests were performed and 1408 (4.0%) were positive for SARS-CoV-2, compared to 19.1%-34.9% adults. Childhood cases increased from mid-March and peaked on 11 April before declining. Among 2,961 individuals presenting with ARI in primary care, 351 were children and 10 (2.8%) were positive compared with 9.3%-45.5% in adults. Eight children died and four (case-fatality rate, 0.3%; 95% CI 0.07% to 0.7%) were due to COVID-19. We found no evidence of excess mortality in children.
Conclusions: Children accounted for a very small proportion of confirmed cases despite the large numbers of children tested. SARS-CoV-2 positivity was low even in children with ARI. Our findings provide further evidence against the role of children in infection and transmission of SARS-CoV-2.
Keywords: epidemiology; virology.