Clinical manifestations and diagnosis of COVID-19 in children

ABSTRACT

At the end of 2019, an outbreak of a new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, occurred in China. This virus is highly contagious, transmitted by different routes, such as airborne and contact, but most likely among children it is also transmitted by the fecal-oral route. The disease caused by a new strain of coronavirus is COVID-19. An acute infectious disease has become a pandemic and persists to this day. Currently available data suggests that symptoms of COVID-19 in the adult population may be mild, moderate, or severe. But among children, the course of the disease is very different from that in adults with a milder course. The severe course of COVID-19 among children has been associated with the development of multisystem inflammatory syndrome or Kawasaki disease. In addition to the epidemiological history, laboratory and instrumental analysis, the gold standard for the etiological diagnosis of COVID-19 is the identification of the genetic material — the ribonucleic acid of the virus using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Due to the risk of radiation, a chest CT scan in the pediatric population is only recommended when there is a suspicion of COVID-19. For the prophylaxis and prevention of future epidemics, studying the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 among children is especially important, since the majority of asymptomatic cases of the disease occur in this population. So, the purpose of our study is to review the main clinical manifestations and diagnostic methods of COVID-19 in children.