Leukopenia of Asymptomatic COVID-19 Infections under 18 Years Old in Recovery Stage

Zhang, W.; Yuan, Y.; Yang, Z.; Fu, J.; Zhang, Y.; Ma, M.; Wu, W.; Zhou, H.

Background In December, 2019, a type of novel coronavirus which was designated novel coronavirus 2019 (2019-nCoV) by World Health Organization (WHO) occurred in Wuhan, Hubei, China. The epidemiological and clinical characteristics of those patients under 18 years old in the recovery stage are limited. To compare the difference of epidemiological and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 involving 25 patients under 18 years old in recovery stage between confirmed and asymptomatic infections. Methods Retrospective, single-center cohort study of COVID-19 involving 25 patients under 18 years old in the recovery stage at Guizhou Provincial Staff Hospital in Guiyang, China, from January 29, to March 31, 2020; final date of follow-up was April 22. Epidemiological, demographic, clinical, laboratory, radiological, and treatment data were collected and analyzed. Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of confirmed COVID-19 infections and asymptomatic infections were compared. Results Among the 25 COVID infections under 18 years old, 16 (64%) were mild or moderate confirmed cases, and 9 (36%) were asymptomatic. The shortest treatment period was 6 days, the longest 26 days, and the average treatment period 14 days. Four cases (44.4%) had visited Wuhan or had a living story in the city. There were 9 (100%) asymptomatic cases were familial cluster outbreak, with an average infection number was 6 cases among all families. The number of asymptomatic COVID-19 infections with leukopenia were significantly more than confirmed cases (p=0.04). Conclusions Leukopenia mostly occurred in asymptomatic COVID-19 infections under 18 years old compared with the confirmed patients.