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. 2022 Nov 8;19(11):e1004118.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1004118. eCollection 2022 Nov.

COVID-19 deaths in children and young people in England, March 2020 to December 2021: An active prospective national surveillance study

Marta Bertran  1 , Zahin Amin-Chowdhury  1 , Hannah G Davies  2 , Hester Allen  3 , Tom Clare  3 , Chloe Davison  3 , Mary Sinnathamby  3 , Giulia Seghezzo  3 , Meaghan Kall  3 , Hannah Williams  4   5 , Nick Gent  4   5 , Mary E Ramsay  1 , Shamez N Ladhani  1   2 , Godwin Oligbu  1   2
Affiliations

COVID-19 deaths in children and young people in England, March 2020 to December 2021: An active prospective national surveillance study

Marta Bertran et al. PLoS Med. .

Abstract

Background: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) deaths are rare in children and young people (CYP). The high rates of asymptomatic and mild infections complicate assessment of cause of death in CYP. We assessed the cause of death in all CYP with a positive Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) test since the start of the pandemic in England.

Methods and findings: CYP aged <20 years who died within 100 days of laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection between 01 March 2020 and 31 December 2021 in England were followed up in detail, using national databases, surveillance questionnaires, post-mortem reports, and clinician interviews. There were 185 deaths during the 22-month follow-up and 81 (43.8%) were due to COVID-19. Compared to non-COVID-19 deaths in CYP with a positive SARS-CoV-2 test, death due to COVID-19 was independently associated with older age (aOR 1.06 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01 to 1.11, p = 0.02) and underlying comorbidities (aOR 2.52 95% CI 1.27 to 5.01, p = 0.008), after adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity group, and underlying conditions, with a shorter interval between SARS-CoV-2 testing and death. Half the COVID-19 deaths (41/81, 50.6%) occurred within 7 days of confirmation of SARS-CoV-2 infection and 91% (74/81) within 30 days. Of the COVID-19 deaths, 61 (75.3%) had an underlying condition, especially severe neurodisability (n = 27) and immunocompromising conditions (n = 12). Over the 22-month surveillance period, SARS-CoV-2 was responsible for 1.2% (81/6,790) of all deaths in CYP aged <20 years, with an infection fatality rate of 0.70/100,000 SARS-CoV-2 infections in this age group estimated through real-time, nowcasting modelling, and a mortality rate of 0.61/100,000. Limitations include possible under-ascertainment of deaths in CYP who were not tested for SARS-CoV-2 and lack of direct access to clinical data for hospitalised CYP.

Conclusions: COVID-19 deaths remain extremely rare in CYP, with most fatalities occurring within 30 days of infection and in children with specific underlying conditions.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Flow chart of CYP under 20 years with COVID-19 who died within 100 days of COVID-19 between 1 March 2020 and 31 December 2021.
COVID-19, Coronavirus Disease 2019; CYP, children and young people; SARS-CoV-2, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2.
Fig 2
Fig 2. COVID-19 infection rates by age group and number of deaths by cause of death in CYP <20 years (predominant circulating variant shown by coloured chevrons; error bars indicate 95% confidence intervals).
(Note non-COVID deaths only include deaths in CYP with a SARS-CoV-2 positive test within 100 days.) COVID-19, Coronavirus Disease 2019; CYP, children and young people; SARS-CoV-2, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2.
Fig 3
Fig 3
Kaplan–Meier survival estimates of death following COVID-19 by (A) type of death and (B) type of death stratified by comorbidity status. CI, confidence interval; COVID-19, Coronavirus Disease 2019.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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