Mild COVID‐19 in a pediatric renal transplant recipient

Bush, Rachel; Johns, Felicia; Acharya, Ratna; Upadhyay, Kiran

As of mid‐April 2020, the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic has affected more than 2 million people and caused 135,000 deaths worldwide. Not much is known about the effect of this disease in immunosuppressed children with renal transplantation (RT). Here we report a 13‐year‐old child with multiple comorbidities who acquired COVID‐19 five years post‐RT in the United States. Maintenance immunosuppression (IS) consisted of sirolimus and mycophenolate. There was no history of travel or exposure to sick contacts. The presenting features were fever, cough, rhinorrhea and hypoxemia. Diarrhea was the only extra pulmonary manifestation. Chest x‐ray was normal. He did not require intensive care unit care or ventilation. There was a transient rise in his serum creatinine without change in urine output; dialysis was not required. Slight reduction in IS was done. He had an excellent clinical recovery within four days and was able to be discharged home. His respiratory symptoms resolved but the diarrhea persisted during a 4 week follow‐up period. This report provides a brief perspective on the short‐term COVID‐19 clinical course in an immunosuppressed child. More reports will add valuable information on the potential variety of spectrum of the illness in this subset of children.