Clinical characteristics of 10 children with COVID-19 outside of Wuhan in Hubei Province (preprint)

ABSTRACT

Background：An outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) began in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China in December 2019. This study aims to report the clinical characteristics of children COVID-19 in Xiangyang, a city outside of Wuhan within Hubei Province.Methods：We retrospectively investigated the clinical manifestations, Chest CT imaging, and laboratory characteristics of confirmed cases of children with COVID-19 with WHO interim guidance in Xiangyang Central Hospital from Feb 1 to Mar 10, 2020. 10 children cases were confirmed by real-time RT-PCR and were analyzed for epidemiological, demographic, clinical, radiological features and laboratory data. Outcomes were followed up until Mar 10, 2020.Results：6 cases (60%) had never been to Wuhan but closely contacted with family members with confirmed COVID-19, and 4 cases (40%) had made short term trips to Wuhan alone without familial clustering. The most common symptoms were cough (50%) followed by fever (40%), 4 cases (40%) showed asymptomatic characteristics including 2 cases (20%) with abnormal chest computed tomograms (CT) image. 9 cases (90%) were mild type, only 1 case (10%) was moderate type, none of them progressed in severe or critical disease. 4 (40%) cases showed leucopenia but none lymphopenia. Abnormalities on chest CT were detected among 8 cases (80%), 2 of 4 cases without obvious symptoms had abnormal chest CT.Conclusions: Children's infection is mainly caused by family clusters. No transmission to other individuals from children was found in our observation. The clinical manifestations in children with COVID-19 are non-specific with milder symptoms and good outcomes.