Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in adolescents: An update on current clinical and diagnostic characteristics

de Sanctis, Vincenzo; Ruggiero, Leopoldo; Soliman, Ashraf T; Daar, Shahina; Di Maio, Salvatore; Kattamis, Christos

The current outbreak of infections with SARS-CoV-2 is defined as Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The clinical symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, fatigue, cough, breathing difficulty that may lead to respiratory distress; a small population of patients may have diarrhea, nausea or vomiting. The highest infection rate occurs in adults; however, neonates, children, and adolescents can also be infected. As the outbreak continues to spread worldwide, attention has switched toward determinants of clinical manifestations and disease severity. The situation surrounding the outbreak is rapidly evolving and the information and recommendations are changing as new information becomes available. This paper summarises the current findings (April 3,2020) from a systematic literature review on the current knowledge of COVID-19 in adolescents (10-19 years according to the WHO definition) and reports the preliminary epidemiological data stated by the Italian National Institute of Health. (www.actabiomedica.it)