Dataset Information

COVID-19 in children: analysis of the first pandemic peak in England.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES:To assess disease trends, testing practices, community surveillance, case-fatality and excess deaths in children as compared with adults during the first pandemic peak in England. SETTING:England. PARTICIPANTS:Children with COVID-19 between January and May 2020. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:Trends in confirmed COVID-19 cases, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) positivity rates in children compared with adults; community prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in children with acute respiratory infection (ARI) compared with adults, case-fatality rate in children with confirmed COVID-19 and excess childhood deaths compared with the previous 5 years. RESULTS:Children represented 1.1% (1,408/129,704) of SARS-CoV-2 positive cases between 16 January 2020 and 3 May 2020. In total, 540 305 people were tested for SARS-COV-2 and 129,704 (24.0%) were positive. In children aged <16 years, 35,200 tests were performed and 1408 (4.0%) were positive for SARS-CoV-2, compared to 19.1%-34.9% adults. Childhood cases increased from mid-March and peaked on 11 April before declining. Among 2,961 individuals presenting with ARI in primary care, 351 were children and 10 (2.8%) were positive compared with 9.3%-45.5% in adults. Eight children died and four (case-fatality rate, 0.3%; 95% CI 0.07% to 0.7%) were due to COVID-19. We found no evidence of excess mortality in children. CONCLUSIONS:Children accounted for a very small proportion of confirmed cases despite the large numbers of children tested. SARS-CoV-2 positivity was low even in children with ARI. Our findings provide further evidence against the role of children in infection and transmission of SARS-CoV-2.

SUBMITTER: Ladhani SN

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7431771 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

COVID-19 in children: analysis of the first pandemic peak in England.

Ladhani Shamez N SN Amin-Chowdhury Zahin Z Davies Hannah G HG Aiano Felicity F Hayden Iain I Lacy Joanne J Sinnathamby Mary M de Lusignan Simon S Demirjian Alicia A Whittaker Heather H Andrews Nick N Zambon Maria M Hopkins Susan S Ramsay Mary Elizabeth ME

Archives of disease in childhood 20200812 12

<h4>Objectives</h4>To assess disease trends, testing practices, community surveillance, case-fatality and excess deaths in children as compared with adults during the first pandemic peak in England.<h4>Setting</h4>England.<h4>Participants</h4>Children with COVID-19 between January and May 2020.<h4>Main outcome measures</h4>Trends in confirmed COVID-19 cases, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) positivity rates in children compared with adults; community prevalence of SAR ...[more]

PMID: 32796006

Similar Datasets

Project description:ImportanceDuring the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, child mortality in England was the lowest on record, but if this trend will continue, or if unrecognized morbidity during the first year of the pandemic will manifest as increased deaths over the next few years is unclear.ObjectiveTo examine the risks and patterns of childhood deaths before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.Design, setting, and participantsThis population-based cohort study includes all child deaths in England from April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2022.ExposuresThe year of death.Main outcomes and measuresThe primary outcome measure is risk of death.ResultsOf the 9983 child deaths reported during the study period, 9872 (98.8%) were linked to demographic and population data with 3409 deaths (34.5%) between April 2019 and March 2020, 3035 (30.7%) between April 2020 and March 2021, and 3428 (34.7%) between April 2021 and March 2022. Most deaths occurred in children who were younger than 1 year (6257 of 9872 [62.7%]), the majority were male (5534 of 9760 [56.7%]), and lived in an urban area (8766 of 9872 [88.8%]). The risk of death was lower between April 2020 and March 2021 (relative risk [RR], 0.89 [95% CI, 0.84-0.93]), but not between April 2021 and March 2022 (RR, 1.00 [95% CI, 0.95-1.05]) when compared with April 2019 to March 2020. A population attributable risk (PAF) of 4.0% (95% CI, 0.1%-6.8%) suggested fewer deaths occurred during the whole 3-year period than expected. Reductions were seen in risk of dying by infection (PAF, 22.8% [95% CI, 8.2%-37.0%]) and underlying disease (PAF, 13.3% [95% CI, 8.1%-18.8%]), but there was evidence of an increasing risk of death by trauma (PAF, 14.7% [95% CI, 2.9%-25.2%]). Any reduction in the risk of death was greater in rural areas than in urban areas (RR, 0.73 [95% CI, 0.63-0.85] vs RR, 0.91 [95% CI, 0.86-0.95]) and was not seen in children older than 9 years.Conclusions and relevanceIn this cohort study, there was a significant reduction in all-cause child mortality during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021), which returned to close to prepandemic levels the following year (2021-2022). However, there was a net reduction in deaths despite this, with 4% fewer deaths during the 3-year period than would have been expected from the 2019 to 2020 risks. The reductions were largest in rural areas and in children younger than 10 years.

Project description:In France, the first pandemic peak fell disproportionately on the most disadvantaged, as they were overrepresented in contaminations and in developing severe forms of the virus. At that time, and especially during lockdown, the French healthcare system was severely disrupted and limited. The issue of social differences in the use of healthcare by people experiencing symptoms of Covid-19 arose. Based on a random sample of 135,000 persons, we selected respondents who reported Covid-19-like symptoms (cough, fever, dyspnea, anosmia and/or ageusia) during the first lockdown (n = 12,422). The aim of this study was to determine if the use of health care services was likely to contribute to widen Covid-19 social inequalities. Use of health care services was classified in three categories: (1) no consultation, (2) out-of-hospital consultation(s) and (3) in-hospital consultation(s). We estimated odds ratio of utilization of health care using multinomial regressions, adjusted on social factors (age, gender, class, ethno-racial status, social class, standard of living and education), contextual variables, health variables, and symptoms characteristics. Altogether, 37.8% of the individuals consulted a doctor for their symptoms; 32.1% outside hospital and 5.7% in hospital. Use of health care services was strongly associated with social position2: the most disadvantaged social groups and racially minoritized immigrants were more likely to use health care, particularly for in-hospital consultation(s). The highest utilization of health care were found among older adults (OR 9.51, 95%CI 5.02-18.0 compared to the youngest age group), the racially minoritized first-generation immigrants (OR 1.61, 95%CI 1.09-2.36 compared to the mainstream population), the poorest (OR 1.31, 95%CI 1.00-1.72) and the least educated (OR 2.20, 95%CI 1.44-3.38). To conclude, we found that the use of health care services counteracted the potential impact of social inequalities in exposure and infection to the Covid-19.

Dataset Information

COVID-19 in children: analysis of the first pandemic peak in England.

Publications

COVID-19 in children: analysis of the first pandemic peak in England.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets