COVID-19 and children

Abstract

In December 2019, the world became aware of an epidemic of a very severe infection caused by a new coronavirus. Later, WHO declared a pandemic. The pediatricians were ready for the worst. The novel infection was expected to promptly spread among the most vulnerable population, children. But the clinicians soon understood that the situation is unbelievable: adults develop severe disease and die, while the children remain almost excluded from the infection spreading. 9 months have passed in the “new reality”. The humankind was learning to respond to the new infection challenge by empirical search for the potential therapeutic and diagnostic solutions and conducting wide clinical studies in parallel. A few questions have been answered because of consolidated and/or isolated actions of researchers and clinicians at the national, regional, and international levels. However, most aspects of how the new coronavirus affects the humans, including children, is still unclear and our knowledge of these aspects cannot be transferred in the routine practice. This review presents latest understanding of the course of the novel coronavirus infection in children, its treatment and outcomes.