Coronavirus in pediatrics

an integrative review

Abstract

Objective: to know the epidemiological clinical aspects of coronavirus infection in pediatric patients. Method: integrative literature review from april to may 2020, in three scientific databases. Results and discussions: the sample consisted of 59 children from 1 month to 15 years old. The younger had greater severity of signs and symptoms. Fever was one of the main reported symptoms (52% -75%), followed by cough (44-75%). The main gastrointestinal symptom was diarrhea (10-12%). The children included in the study were diagnosed through the real-time polymerase chain reaction, a gold standard test to detect this infection. This population showed milder symptoms of the disease compared to adults. Conclusions: there is little research related to coronavirus in pediatrics, due to the smaller number of infected children and the possibility of these, remaining asymptomatic. Further studies are suggested to understand this theme.