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. 2022 May 6:40:e2021172.
doi: 10.1590/1984-0462/2022/40/2021172IN. eCollection 2022.

SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and adolescents: a Brazilian experience

[Article in English, Portuguese]
Adriana de Oliveira Ribeiro Dos Santos  1 , Bianca Rezende Lucarevschi  1 , Mariana Hool Bajerl  1 , Luara de Oliveira Pires  1 , Dáfny Cristina Ubriaco  1 , Luiz Fernando Costa Nascimento  2
Affiliations

SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and adolescents: a Brazilian experience

[Article in English, Portuguese]
Adriana de Oliveira Ribeiro Dos Santos et al. Rev Paul Pediatr. .

Abstract
in English, Portuguese

Objective: To describe clinical and epidemiological aspects of children and adolescents infected with the SARS-CoV-2 in the Municipality of Taubaté, SP, from March to November 2020.

Methods: Cross-sectional study with secondary data obtained from the Epidemiological Surveillance System about confirmed cases in city residents and from medical records of patients who were treated in hospitals in Taubaté, aged between 0 and 19 years. Chi-square and Student's t tests were used for comparisons.

Results: 677 cases in the studied age range were reported during the study period, corresponding to 10.1% of cases reported in the municipality. The rapid antibody test was the most used to confirm infection, followed by RT-PCR and serology. Symptoms were described in 57.7% of the cases, mainly fever and cough. Diarrhea was associated with age below 4 years, while fever, cough, headache, odynophagia, ageusia, anosmia, myalgia, and dyspnea were associated with an age ranging from 10 to 19 years. In the study period, there were no deaths from COVID-19 of residents of the municipality in the age group from 0 to 19 years.

Conclusions: The study was able to identify the proportion of involvement of COVID-19 in children and adolescents in the city, and the disease had a mild evolution. The main symptoms were fever and cough, but mainly diarrhea in younger children, and headache, odynophagia, anosmia, ageusia, and myalgia in adolescents.

Objetivo:: Descrever aspectos clínicos e epidemiológicos de crianças e adolescentes infectados pelo SARS-CoV-2 no município de Taubaté (SP) de março a novembro de 2020.

Métodos:: Estudo transversal com dados secundários obtidos no Setor de Vigilância Epidemiológica de casos confirmados em residentes do município e consulta de prontuários de pacientes que foram atendidos em hospitais de Taubaté, com idade entre 0 e 19 anos. Realizaram-se os testes de qui-quadrado, comparação de proporções e t de Student, sendo considerados nível de significância alfa <5%.

Resultados:: Notificaram-se 677 casos no período estudado, correspondendo a 10,1% do total de casos notificados no município. O teste rápido de anticorpos foi o teste mais utilizado, seguido de RT-PCR e sorologia. Sintomas foram descritos em 57,7% dos casos, sendo febre e tosse os mais frequentes. Diarreia apresentou associação com faixa etária < 4 anos, e febre, tosse, cefaleia, odinofagia, ageusia, anosmia, mialgia e dispneia tiveram associação com faixa etária de 10 a 19 anos. No período estudado, não ocorreu nenhum óbito por COVID-19 na faixa etária de 0 a 19 anos de residentes do município.

Conclusões:: O estudo conseguiu identificar a proporção de acometimento da COVID-19 em crianças e adolescentes no município, e a doença teve comportamento leve e boa evolução. Os principais sintomas foram febre e tosse, destacando-se diarreia nas crianças mais jovens e cefaleia, odinofagia, anosmia, ageusia e mialgia nos adolescentes.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Location map of the city of Taubate.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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