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Percentage of pediatric COVID-19 patients who experience severe outcomes minimal: global study

Calgary hospital
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A global study of young people who contracted COVID-19 has determined approximately three per cent of the patients developed severe outcomes within two weeks of their emergency room visit.

The study — co-led by researchers at the University of Calgary's Cumming School of Medicine as well as the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago and University of California-Davis Medical Center —charted the outcomes of 3,221 positive pediatric cases around the world from March 2020 through June 2021.

Within the first two weeks of testing positive at one of 41 emergency departments in North America, Europe, Asia or Australia, 735 of the patients (23 per cent) were admitted for treatment and 107 (three per cent) experienced severe outcomes including cardiac complications, myocarditis, respiratory problems, or neurological concerns. Four of the patients died.

"The study sought to quantify the frequency of and risk factors for severe outcomes in children with COVID-19," said study co-lead Dr. Stephen Freedman, a pediatrician and professor at the Cumming School of Medicine. "We found that older age, having a pre-existing chronic condition and symptom duration were important risk factors for severe outcomes."

The study found the greatest risk was experienced in patients who:

  • Were five years of age or older;
  • Had a pre-existing chronic illness;
  • Had a previous episode of pneumonia; or,
  • Arrived in hospital four to seven days after the onset of COVID-19 symptoms.

Researchers found the COVID-19 pediatric patients who were considered healthy at the time of their initial emergency visit were extremely unlikely to deteriorate in health post-diagnosis. Fewer that one per cent (0.5 per cent) of the 2,510 COVID-19 positive youth who were not hospitalized experienced severe outcomes within two weeks of leaving the emergency department.  

The Outcomes of SARS-CoV-2-Positive Youths Tested in Emergency Departments study has been published to the JAMA Network Open.

Correction

The original headline of this story indicated a percentage of pediatric COVID-19 patients who experienced severe outcomes without mentioning that the study collected data only from patients who visit an emergency department.

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