PreprintArticleVersion 1This version is not peer-reviewed
Clinical Manifestations of Acute COVID-19 in Previously Healthy Pediatric Patients Diagnosed by Rapid Antigen Screening in a Community Based, Outpatient Primary Care Pediatrics Practice
Version 1
: Received: 6 October 2024 / Approved: 6 October 2024 / Online: 7 October 2024 (07:40:44 CEST)
How to cite:
Calderwood, S.; Montoya, E.; Brar, M. S. Clinical Manifestations of Acute COVID-19 in Previously Healthy Pediatric Patients Diagnosed by Rapid Antigen Screening in a Community Based, Outpatient Primary Care Pediatrics Practice. Preprints2024, 2024100400. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202410.0400.v1
Calderwood, S.; Montoya, E.; Brar, M. S. Clinical Manifestations of Acute COVID-19 in Previously Healthy Pediatric Patients Diagnosed by Rapid Antigen Screening in a Community Based, Outpatient Primary Care Pediatrics Practice. Preprints 2024, 2024100400. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202410.0400.v1
Calderwood, S.; Montoya, E.; Brar, M. S. Clinical Manifestations of Acute COVID-19 in Previously Healthy Pediatric Patients Diagnosed by Rapid Antigen Screening in a Community Based, Outpatient Primary Care Pediatrics Practice. Preprints2024, 2024100400. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202410.0400.v1
APA Style
Calderwood, S., Montoya, E., & Brar, M. S. (2024). Clinical Manifestations of Acute COVID-19 in Previously Healthy Pediatric Patients Diagnosed by Rapid Antigen Screening in a Community Based, Outpatient Primary Care Pediatrics Practice. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202410.0400.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Calderwood, S., Eduardo Montoya and Mandeep Singh Brar. 2024 "Clinical Manifestations of Acute COVID-19 in Previously Healthy Pediatric Patients Diagnosed by Rapid Antigen Screening in a Community Based, Outpatient Primary Care Pediatrics Practice" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202410.0400.v1
Abstract
The PediCenter and Niles Children’s Clinic provide pediatric primary and urgent care services in central California. We remained open throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, providing scheduled well child-care and sick visits. Beginning in September 2020, we implemented a COVID-19 screening program. Screening was performed on all patients presenting for care and was made available to patients requiring testing for any purpose. Herein, we provide results from that program, including a description of clinical characteristics of COVID-19 in our patients. Key findings: 11,649 COVID-19 antigen screening tests were performed (age range 0.1 to 17.0, mean 8.7, SD 4.5). In total, 1,560 pts. (13.4%) tested positive. Among these, 665 (43%) were asymptomatic, 560 (36%) had mild disease, 318 (20%) had moderate disease, and 17 (1%) had severe disease. No critical cases or transfers to the emergency room were reported. Younger patient age was associated with an increased severity of illness, as was time from onset of pandemic. 4,446 patients reported no symptoms at the time of screening, 15% of whom tested positive. 7,203 patients reported symptoms at the time of testing. Among these, 87.6% tested negative and 12.4% tested positive. Disease severity was similar between these 2 groups. COVID-19 is generally a mild respiratory tract infection in healthy children. Screening is effective in identifying cases, including asymptomatic cases. Statistical models further revealed associations between patient age, time from the onset of the pandemic and disease severity.
Keywords
SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; Pandemic; Severity of Illness; Screening; Children
Subject
Medicine and Pharmacology, Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
