Prävalenz von SARS-CoV-2 bei Kindern in einer Kohorte von 2192 Patienten

Meyer, M.; Rübsteck, E.; Lehmann, C.; Klein, F.; Gruell, H.; Hünseler, C.; Weber, L. T.

BACKGROUND: As of 18 June 2020 a total of 187,764 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections were reported in Germany and of these 6.9% were under the age of 19 years. There were initial indications that children are often asymptomatic and show a milder clinical course. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to gain information on the prevalence of SARS-CoV‑2 infections in a pediatric cohort. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Between 13 March and 18 June 2020 all children from whom a smear for SARS-CoV‑2 was taken either to rule out an infection or as a suspected case were included. Data were collected on standardized patient record sheets. The analysis of data was anonymized and retrospective. RESULTS: During the given period 2192 children were investigated and 37 patients tested positive (1.7%) for SARS-CoV‑2. Of these 36/37 were suspected cases and 28/37 were symptomatic. The leading symptoms were dry cough, runny nose and fever and three children had to be hospitalized. None showed a difficult course of the disease. Among those tested 505 were patients at risk due to an underlying chronic disease, 3 of whom (0.6%) were tested positive with an asymptomatic or mild course. CONCLUSION: We can confirm the first data showing that children and adolescents often have an asymptomatic or mild clinical course of infection or disease. We found no evidence of a high grey area of SARS-CoV‑2 infections in this regional pediatric cohort.