Epidemiological and clinical features of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection in children during the outbreak of Omicron variant in Shanghai, March 7–31, 2022
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Abstract
Objectives
This study aimed to understand the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of pediatric SARS‐CoV‐2 infection during the early stage of Omicron variant outbreak in Shanghai.
Methods
This study included local COVID‐19 cases <18 years in Shanghai referred to the exclusively designated hospital from March 7 to March 31, 2022. Clinical data, epidemiological exposure, and COVID‐19 vaccination status were collected. Relative risks (RRs) were calculated to assess the effect of vaccination on symptomatic infection and febrile disease.
Results
A total of 376 pediatric cases of COVID‐19 (median age: 6.0 ± 4.2 years) were referred to the designated hospital, including 257 (68.4%) symptomatic cases and 119 (31.6%) asymptomatic cases. Of the 307 (81.6%) children ≥3 years eligible for COVID‐19 vaccination, 110 (35.8%) received two doses of vaccines. The median interval between the completion of two‐dose vaccination and infection was 3.5 (interquartile range [IQR]: 3, 4.5) months. Compared with no vaccination, two‐dose COVID‐19 vaccination reduced the risks of symptomatic infection and febrile disease by 35% (RR 0.65, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.53–0.79) and 33% (RR 0.64, 95% CI: 0.51–0.81) among confirmed cases. Eighty‐four percent of symptomatic cases had fever (mean duration: 1.7 ± 1.0.8 days), 40.5% had cough, and 16.4% had transient leukopenia. Three hundred and seven (81.6%) had an epidemiological exposure in household (69.1%), school (21.8%), and residential area (8.8%).
Conclusion
The surge of pediatric COVID‐19 cases and multiple transmission model reflect wide dissemination of Omicron variant in the community. Asymptomatic infection is common among Omicron‐infected children. COVID‐19 vaccination can offer some protection against symptomatic infection and febrile disease.
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SciScore for 10.1101/2022.04.28.22274421: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Ethics Consent: Informed consent from parents was not required by the ethics committee because all data were de-identified and not involved in personal privacy.
IRB: Informed consent from parents was not required by the ethics committee because all data were de-identified and not involved in personal privacy.Sex as a biological variable not detected. Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Table 2: Resources
Software and Algorithms Sentences Resources Statistical analysis: Data was entered into Excel version 2016 (Microsoft, Redmond, Washington) for analysis and the statistical analysis was preformed using SPSS (IBM Statistic 23.0). Excelsuggested: NoneSPSSsuggested: …SciScore for 10.1101/2022.04.28.22274421: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Ethics Consent: Informed consent from parents was not required by the ethics committee because all data were de-identified and not involved in personal privacy.
IRB: Informed consent from parents was not required by the ethics committee because all data were de-identified and not involved in personal privacy.Sex as a biological variable not detected. Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Table 2: Resources
Software and Algorithms Sentences Resources Statistical analysis: Data was entered into Excel version 2016 (Microsoft, Redmond, Washington) for analysis and the statistical analysis was preformed using SPSS (IBM Statistic 23.0). Excelsuggested: NoneSPSSsuggested: (SPSS, RRID:SCR_002865)Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).
Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.
Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.
Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.
Results from rtransparent:- Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
- Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
- Thank you for including a protocol registration statement.
Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.
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