Prevalence of COVID-19 in children, adolescents, and adults in remote education situation in the city of Fortaleza – Brazil

Cavalcante Pinto, Valdester; Moura, Luiz Francisco Wemmenson Gonçalves; Cavalcante, Rodrigo Cardoso; Rubens Costa Lima, José; Bezerra, Arnaldo Solheiro; de Sousa Dantas, Daylana Régia; Amaral, Cícero Matheus Lima; Lima, Daniel Freire; Viana, Antonio Brazil; Guedes, Maria Izabel Florindo

Objectives A retrospective study was conducted on a database of the COVID-19 Tracking Program in schoolchildren to identify the prevalence of COVID-19 through serology and RT-PCR in children, adolescents, and adults. Methods The data was composed of sociodemographic and clinical variables, results of serological tests (IgM and IgG), and RT-PCR results of IgM-positive individuals. The statistical analysis was performed with a 5% significance level. Results Among the 423 children, 107 (25.3%) exhibited seroprevalence, with IgG, IgM, or IgG/IgM. Among 854 adolescents, 250 (29.2%) had positive serology, and among 282 adults, 59 (20.9%) were positive. The frequency of positivity on RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2 was 3.5%, 3.6%, and 6.0 respectively in children, adolescents, and adults. Children had a lower incidence of symptoms than adolescents (p = 0.001) or adults (p = 0.003); the most frequent were fever, ageusia, anosmia, headache, dry cough, sore throat, muscle pain, runny nose, dyspnea, and diarrhea. Conclusions We concluded that the prevalence rate for all groups was 26.7% in serology and 4.04% in RT-PCR. Children had lower rates of IgM and fewer symptoms compared to adolescents and adults. The data suggests the potential for transmissibility in all age groups.