tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Emerg Infect Dis
. 2024 Jun;30(6):1182-1192.
doi: 10.3201/eid3006.231427.
SARS-CoV-2 Disease Severity and Cycle Threshold Values in Children Infected during Pre-Delta, Delta, and Omicron Periods, Colorado, USA, 2021-2022
Laura Bankers, Shannon C O'Brien, Diana M Tapay, Erin Ho, Isaac Armistead, Alexis Burakoff, Samuel R Dominguez, Shannon R Matzinger
In adults, viral load and disease severity can differ by SARS-CoV-2 variant, patterns less understood in children. We evaluated symptomatology, cycle threshold (Ct) values, and SARS-CoV-2 variants among 2,299 pediatric SARS-CoV-2 patients (0-21 years of age) in Colorado, USA, to determine whether children infected with Delta or Omicron had different symptom severity or Ct values than during earlier variants. Children infected during the Delta and Omicron periods had lower Ct values than those infected during pre-Delta, and children <1 year of age had lower Ct values than older children. Hospitalized symptomatic children had lower Ct values than asymptomatic patients. Compared with pre-Delta, more children infected during Delta and Omicron were symptomatic (75.4% pre-Delta, 95.3% Delta, 99.5% Omicron), admitted to intensive care (18.8% pre-Delta, 39.5% Delta, 22.9% Omicron), or received oxygen support (42.0% pre-Delta, 66.3% Delta, 62.3% Omicron). Our data reinforce the need to include children, especially younger children, in pathogen surveillance efforts.
Keywords: COVID-19; COVID-19 pandemic; COVID-19 testing; Colorado; Ct values; Delta; Omicron; SARS-CoV-2; United States; children; coronavirus disease; respiratory infections; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; viruses; whole-genome sequencing; zoonoses.
. 2024 Jun;30(6):1182-1192.
doi: 10.3201/eid3006.231427.
SARS-CoV-2 Disease Severity and Cycle Threshold Values in Children Infected during Pre-Delta, Delta, and Omicron Periods, Colorado, USA, 2021-2022
Laura Bankers, Shannon C O'Brien, Diana M Tapay, Erin Ho, Isaac Armistead, Alexis Burakoff, Samuel R Dominguez, Shannon R Matzinger
- PMID: 38781929
- DOI: 10.3201/eid3006.231427
In adults, viral load and disease severity can differ by SARS-CoV-2 variant, patterns less understood in children. We evaluated symptomatology, cycle threshold (Ct) values, and SARS-CoV-2 variants among 2,299 pediatric SARS-CoV-2 patients (0-21 years of age) in Colorado, USA, to determine whether children infected with Delta or Omicron had different symptom severity or Ct values than during earlier variants. Children infected during the Delta and Omicron periods had lower Ct values than those infected during pre-Delta, and children <1 year of age had lower Ct values than older children. Hospitalized symptomatic children had lower Ct values than asymptomatic patients. Compared with pre-Delta, more children infected during Delta and Omicron were symptomatic (75.4% pre-Delta, 95.3% Delta, 99.5% Omicron), admitted to intensive care (18.8% pre-Delta, 39.5% Delta, 22.9% Omicron), or received oxygen support (42.0% pre-Delta, 66.3% Delta, 62.3% Omicron). Our data reinforce the need to include children, especially younger children, in pathogen surveillance efforts.
Keywords: COVID-19; COVID-19 pandemic; COVID-19 testing; Colorado; Ct values; Delta; Omicron; SARS-CoV-2; United States; children; coronavirus disease; respiratory infections; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; viruses; whole-genome sequencing; zoonoses.