Title:COVID-19 in Pediatrics: A Systematic Review of Current Knowledge and
Practice
Volume: 22
Issue: 5
Author(s): Esmaeil Mehraeen, Shahram Oliaei, SeyedAhmad SeyedAlinaghi*, Amirali Karimi, Pegah Mirzapour, Amir Masoud Afsahi, Alireza Barzegary, Farzin Vahedi, Mahdi Soleymanzadeh, Farzane Behnezhad, Mohammad Javaherian, Ghazal Zargari, Seyed Peyman Mirghaderi, Tayebeh Noori and Jean-Marc Sabatier
Affiliation:
- Iranian
Research Center for HIV/AIDS, Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviors, Tehran University of Medical
Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Keywords:
COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus, morbidity, mortality, pediatrics, prognosis.
Abstract:
Introduction: SARS-CoV-2 is the novel coronavirus that causes severe acute respiratory
syndrome and could afflict individuals from all walks of life. Children are usually asymptomatic or
represent non-specific mild to moderate symptoms; therefore, they often remain undiagnosed and
could be potential reservoirs and silent carriers of the virus. Despite the global attention to COVID-19
and its importance in public health, some clinical and paraclinical aspects of this disease in children are
still unclear. Thus, we conducted a comprehensive systematic review of available literature to reflect
on the current knowledge and practice of the disease among children.
Methods: This study was a systematic review of current evidence conducted in October 2020. We
performed a systematic search using the keywords in online databases. The investigation adheres to the
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist to ensure
the reliability and validity of extracted literature and results.
Results: We selected and reviewed 23 most related studies out of 1744 identified papers in an initial
online search based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the present review; of whom 13 were original
research studies, and 10 were letters to the editors, commentaries, viewpoints, consensus statements,
and perspectives. Although due to the origin of the current pandemic, China was the country with the
most publications (12 articles), data from several countries have been included in this review.
Conclusion: COVID-19 can also affect children and cause systemic disease with several internal organ
involvements. However, the prevalence, severity, and diversity of the symptoms in children are less
than in adults. Cough and fever appear to be some of the most common symptoms, followed by other
symptoms such as gastrointestinal manifestations. Comorbidities increase the risk of severe COVID-19
in children, and those without underlying conditions are very unlikely to suffer from severe disease.
Mental health issues such as anxiety and depression due to the isolated situation caused by pandemics
are common findings in children of early ages and should be seriously considered in current practice.