COVID-19 in children: Should we be worried?

S Afr Med J. 2020 Aug 31;110(9):864-868. doi: 10.7196/SAMJ.2020.v110i9.15023.

Abstract

Reports indicate that children infected with SARS-CoV-2 have thus far presented with less severe disease than adults. Anxiety regarding a greater ability to transmit the virus is largely unfounded and has played a significant role in the decision to allow children to return to school. In some patients, however, especially in infants and in those with underlying comorbidities, severe disease must be anticipated and planned for accordingly. The most relevant severe clinical presentation in addition to the established respiratory complications, is that of a multisystem inflammatory disorder, with features resembling Kawasaki disease. The impact of the pandemic on the economic and social wellbeing of children, including food insecurity and care when parents are ill, cannot be ignored. During this pandemic, it is imperative to ensure access to routine and emergency medical services to sick children. In so doing, potentially devastating medical and socioeconomic consequences can be mitigated.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Age Factors
  • Asymptomatic Infections
  • Betacoronavirus
  • COVID-19
  • Child
  • Child Welfare*
  • Child, Preschool
  • Coronavirus Infections / physiopathology*
  • Coronavirus Infections / transmission
  • Education, Distance*
  • Food Supply*
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical
  • Masks*
  • Mental Health*
  • Pandemics
  • Pneumonia, Viral / physiopathology*
  • Pneumonia, Viral / transmission
  • Poverty
  • Risk Factors
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Schools*
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome / physiopathology*

Supplementary concepts

  • pediatric multisystem inflammatory disease, COVID-19 related