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Semin Respir Crit Care Med 2023; 44(01): 066-074
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1759566
Review Article

Clinical Epidemiology of Pediatric Coronavirus Disease 2019 and its Postacute Sequelae

Victoria Habet
1   Section of Critical Care, Department of Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
,
Carlos R. Oliveira
2   Section of Infectious Diseases and Global Health, Department of Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
3   Section of Health Informatics, Department of Biostatistics, Yale University School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut
› Author Affiliations
Funding This work was supported, in part, by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH; grant no.: K23AI159518; to C.R.O). Contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the foundation or the NIH. No honorarium, grant, or other forms of payment was given to anyone to produce the manuscript.
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Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected individuals of all ages across. Although children generally experience a benign illness from COVID-19, the emergence of novel variants of the virus has resulted in significant changes in the morbidity and mortality rates for this age group. Currently, COVID-19 is the eighth leading cause of pediatric deaths in the United States. In addition to acute respiratory illness, some children can develop a severe postinfectious condition known as a multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, which can progress to rapid-onset cardiogenic shock. Recovery from COVID-19 can also be slow for some children, resulting in persistent or reoccurring symptoms for months, commonly referred to as long COVID. These postinfectious sequelae are often distressing for children and their parents, can negatively impact the quality of life, and impose a considerable burden on the health care system. In this article, we review the clinical epidemiology of pediatric COVID-19 and outline the management considerations for its acute and postacute manifestations.

Keywords

SARS-CoV-2 - COVID-19 - MIS-C - pediatric - children - long COVID


Publication History

Article published online:
16 January 2023

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