(Relaxnews) – According to a new study, the majority of children with Covid-19 have had better clinical results in 26 countries, compared to adults affected by the virus in the first four months of the pandemic.
A meta-analysis was performed by researchers at the University of Texas at San Antonio on children and young adults with Covid-19. A total of 131 studies published between January 24 and May 14, involving 7,780 patients of all ages, were reviewed.
According to the results of this research published in The Lancet, 19% of children infected with the virus had no symptoms, 5.6% suffered from co-infections such as the flu and 3.3% were admitted to care units intensive. Only seven deaths have been reported.
“In the study, we report the most common symptoms, quantify laboratory results, and describe the imaging characteristics of children with Covid-19,” said Alvaro Moreira, assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Texas at San Antonio and neonatologist, who supervised the work.
Like the adult population studied, the most common symptoms seen in children were similar to those in the adult population, namely fever and cough. These symptoms were seen in 59% and 56% of children infected with the virus.
In another study, a medical history was reported in 233 patients. Of these, 152 were children with compromised immune systems or with underlying respiratory or heart disease.
Only a small number of patients were included for multisystem inflammatory syndrome (similar to Kawazaki disease) in children. Their disease was parallel to the extreme forms of Covid-19 seen in adults.
Children diagnosed with Covid-19 who did not have an extreme form of the disease had 42% of lymphocytes in their blood (the main types of immune cells in the body), compared to 11% in children with multisystem inflammatory syndrome, note the researchers.
The study does not take into account a new wave of patients in New York, England and Italy, where specialists are now starting to see children with multisystem inflammatory syndrome, says Dr. Moreira.
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