Differences in Clinical Presentation of COVID-19 in Children Hospitalized During Domination of Early (BA.1, BA.2) and Late (BA.5, BA.2.75, BQ.1 and XBB.1.5) SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Subvariants

Abstract

This study analyzed data for 1098 children: 575 diagnosed with COVID-19 between January and June 2022 (early Omicron) and 523 hospitalized from July 2022 to April 2023 (late Omicron). New Omicron subvariants lead to similar recovery rates without deaths and acute respiratory distress syndrome in children as BA.1 and BA.2, however, they more often cause fever and croup. Children suffering from comorbidities, presenting with pulmonary lesions and older, may be prone to a more severe consequences of COVID-19 in terms of the currently dominating Omicron subvariants.

FIGURE 1.

Clinical status of children hospitalized during the domination of early (A) and late (B) SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants at admission to the hospital (0), and after 7, 14, 21 and 28 days. Data are presented as proportions of children presenting with specific clinical status.

FIGURE 2.

Clinical presentation of COVID-19 in children hospitalized during the domination of early and late SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants. Data are presented as prevalence of clinical symptoms (%). For significant differences, P values are provided.