COVID-19: The Pediatric Perspective
Batoul Basalom *
Maternity and Children Hospital, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
Ahmed Ismail
College of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Fares Sindi
College of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Feras Mansouri
College of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Abdullah Kattan
College of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Elaf Balkhy
College of Medicine, Ibn Sina National College, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Eyad Alamri
College of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Atheer Alsurayhi
College of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Fatoma Alhnaidi
College of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Nusaybah Morya
College of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Raghad Alwagdani
College of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Nermeen Alrajhi
College of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Since the appearance of the novel corona virus disease 19 (COVID-19) from Wuhan in China, there have been a lot of researches to uncover the hidden clues that may help in eliminating the outbreak. In a short period of time, the disease has infected millions of people around the globe and was declared as a pandemic by the world health organization (WHO). Different subgroups of the community have been studied and reports have described the course of the disease among pregnant ladies, elders, immunodeficient patients and patients with chronic diseases. However, this review aimed at describing the novel COVID-19 among children and adolescents. The review discusses the prevalence, symptoms, diagnostic investigations, management, and the role of pharmacotherapy of COVID-19. In general, children have a milder course of diseases compared to adults. The symptoms include fever, diarrhea, abdominal pain, cough, fatigue, and other non-specific symptoms. The diagnosis is usually made with a serological test of a body fluid sample from saliva or nose. The role of radiography in the forms of chest X-ray and computed tomography (CT) is not of great benefit to the children. For mild presentations of the disease among children, the management is mainly supportive and there is no indication for antiviral therapy or specific pharmacotherapy except for fever lowering agents like Paracetamol. In terms of prevention, children aged 12 or more can be vaccinated for the objective of preventing the spread of infection, inducing antibody release, and shortening the recovery period.
Keywords: Pediatric, COVID-19, symptoms, diagnosis, vaccination