SARS-CoV-2 Testing and Outcomes in the First 30 Days After the First Case of COVID-19 at an Australian Children’s Hospital
Reporter: Gail S. Thornton, M.A.
2020
Objective: International studies describing COVID-19 in children have shown low proportions of paediatric cases and generally a mild clinical course. We aimed to present early data on children tested for SARS-CoV-2 at a large Australian tertiary children’s hospital according to the state health department guidelines, which varied over time.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study at The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, Australia. It included all paediatric patients (aged 0-18 years) who presented to the Emergency Department (ED) or the Respiratory Infection Clinic (RIC) and were tested for SARS-CoV-2. The 30-day study period commenced after the first confirmed positive case was detected at the hospital on 21st March 2020, until 19th April 2020. We recorded epidemiological and clinical data.
Results: There were 433 patients in whom SARS-CoV-2 testing was performed in ED (331 (76%)) or RIC (102 (24%)). There were 4 (0.9%) who had positive SARS-CoV-2 detected, none of whom were admitted to hospital or developed severe disease. Of these SARS-CoV-2 positive patients, 1/4 (25%) had a comorbidity, which was asthma. Of the SARS-CoV-2 negative patients, 196/429 (46%) had comorbidities. Risk factors for COVID-19 were identified in 4/4 SARS-CoV-2 positive patients and 47/429 (11%) SARS-CoV-2 negative patients.
Conclusions: Our study identified a very low rate of SARS-CoV-2 positive cases in children presenting to a tertiary ED or RIC, none of whom were admitted to hospital. A high proportion of patients who were SARS-CoV-2 negative had comorbidities.
Keywords: Australia; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; children; novel coronavirus.
SOURCE:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32390285/
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