Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Background
Pediatric COVID-19 studies exploring the relationships between NPS and saliva viral loads, clinical and immunological profiles are lacking.Methods
Demographics, immunological profiles, nasopharyngeal swab (NPS), and saliva samples collected on admission, and hospital length of stay (LOS) were assessed in children below 18 years with COVID-19.Findings
91 patients were included between March and August 20 20. NPS and saliva viral loads were correlated (r = 0.315, p = 0.01). Symptomatic patients had significantly higher NPS and saliva viral loads than asymptomatic patients. Serial NPS and saliva viral load measurements showed that the log10 NPS (r = -0.532, p < 0.001) and saliva (r = -0.417, p < 0.001) viral loads for all patients were inversely correlated with the days from symptom onset with statistical significance. Patients with cough, sputum, and headache had significantly higher saliva, but not NPS, viral loads. Higher saliva, but not NPS, viral loads were associated with total lymphopenia, CD3 and CD4 lymphopenia (all p < 0.05), and were inversely correlated with total lymphocyte (r = -0.43), CD3 (r = -0.55), CD4 (r = -0.60), CD8 (r = -0.41), B (r = -0.482), and NK (r = -0.416) lymphocyte counts (all p < 0.05).Interpretation
Saliva viral loads on admission in children correlated better with clinical and immunological profiles than NPS.
SUBMITTER: Chua GT
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7899683 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature