Key clinical research priorities for the pediatric community during the COVID-19 pandemic

摘要

As of May 1, the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center is reporting that 3.127 million cases of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) and 213,791 deaths related to these infections have occurred worldwide (https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/). As the pan- demic evolves, information about how the virus has impacted the health of children is being steadily reported. In early April, the CDC calculated that in the US approximately 1.7% (2572 of 149,082 for which age was reported) of COVID-19 cases had occurred in children <18 years of age. 1 Seventy-three percent of these cases were associated with fever, cough, and/or shortness of breath and 5.7% were hospitalized, compared to 93% and 10% respectively in adults. The median age of cases in children was 11 years (range 0?17 years) with 33% reported in children 15?17 years of age and 15% in children <1 year of age. In this dataset, 23% of children had underlying medical conditions which were present in 77% of hospitalized children and all six children admitted to the ICU. The experience in the first months of the pandemic suggests that although susceptibility to infection may be similar in children and adults, the risk for severe disease appears to be lower in children. 1–3 Nevertheless, serious COVID-19 has been reported in children, including neonates/young infants and those with underlying medical conditions.