Compared with seasonal influenza, the clinical features and epidemiologic characteristics of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19), inchildren, remain largely unknown.

The purpose of a new study published in JAMA Network Open was to describe the similarities and differences in clinical features between COVID-19 and seasonal influenza,among children.

This was a retrospective cohort study that enrolled 315 children who were diagnosed with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 between March and May 2020 – median age: 8.3 years, and 1 402 children diagnosed with seasonal influenza between October 2019 and June 2020 – median age: 3.9 years, at Childrens National Hospital in the District of Columbia, USA.

The findings revealed that children with COVID-19 and those with seasonal influenza had a similar hospitalization rate; intensive care unit (ICU) admission rate; and use of mechanical ventilators. However, more patients hospitalized with COVID-19 than with seasonal influenza reported fever, diarrhea or vomiting, headache, body ache or myalgia and chest pain. Moreover, differences between patients hospitalized with COVID-19 versus influenza who reported cough and shortness of breath were not statistically significant.

Thus, the results indicated that in children with COVID-19 and seasonal influenza, there was no difference in hospitalization rates, intensive care unit admission rates and mechanical ventilator use. More patients hospitalized with COVID-19 than with seasonal influenza reported clinical symptoms at the time of diagnosis.

Source: JAMA Network Open. 2020 Sep 1;3(9):e2020495. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.20495.