Co-infections of SARS-CoV-2 with multiple common respiratory pathogens in infected children: A retrospective study.

ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT Since the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Wuhan, considerable attention has been paid on its epidemiology and clinical characteristics in children patients. However, it is also crucial for clinicians to summarize and investigate the co-infection of SARS-CoV-2 in children.We retrospectively reviewed the clinical manifestations, laboratory findings, and imaging characteristics of COVID-19 patients in co-infection group (CI, n = 27) and single infection group (SI, n = 54). Samples were tested for multiple pathogens.A high incidence (27/81, 33%) of co-infection in children with COVID-19 was revealed. The most frequent co-infected pathogen was mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP, 20/81, 25%), followed by virus (6/81, 7%), and bacteria (4/81, 5%). No significant difference in clinical characteristics, laboratory examinations, or hospital stay was observed between the patients with co-infections and those with monomicrobial, only lower in white blood cell counts (CI 5.54 ±â€Š0.36 vs SI 7.38 ±â€Š0.37, P = .002), neutrophil counts (CI 2.20 ±â€Š0.20 vs SI 2.92 ±â€Š0.23, P = .024) and lymphocyte counts (CI 2.72 ±â€Š0.024 vs SI 3.87 ±â€Š0.28, P = .006). Compared with the patients with monomicrobial, chest imaging of those with co-infections showed consolidation in more cases (CI 29.6% vs SI 11.1%, P = .038) and duration of positive in nucleic acid was shorter (CI 6.69 ±â€Š0.82 vs SI 9.69 ±â€Š0.74, P = .015).Co-infection was relatively common in children with COVID-19, almost 1/3 had co-infection, most commonly caused by MP. Co-infection did not cause a significant exacerbation in clinical manifestations.