Clinical characteristics and epidemiological significance of coronavirus disease 2019 in children and adolescents.

Abstract

The epidemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) started in late December 2019, and spread rapidly throughout the world. In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared global epidemic of COVID-19. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, nearly 13 million children have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the outbreak. In general, children and teens have milder symptoms and fewer deaths from COVID-19 than adults. Understanding the symptoms, infectivity, and transmission patterns of COVID-19 in children and adolescents is of great significance for timely identifying suspected patients and developing effective control measures. Considering that some children will not be vaccinated for quite some time in the future, it is more important to improve the understanding of the clinical and epidemiological significance of COVID-19 in children and adolescents. This article summarizes the current understanding of the clinical manifestations and epidemiological significance of COVID-19 in children and adolescents to provide a reference for clinical diagnosis and treatment and the formulation of epidemic prevention and control strategies in children's gathering institutions such as kindergartens and schools.