A single centre study of viral community-acquired pneumonia in children: No evidence of SARS-CoV-2 from October 2019 to March 2020

Enrica Mancino; Luca Cristiani; Alessandra Pierangeli; Carolina Scagnolari; Raffaella Nenna; Laura Petrarca; Greta Di Mattia; Domenico La Regina; Antonella Frassanito; Giuseppe Oliveto; Agnese Viscido; Fabio Midulla

doi:10.1016/j.jcv.2020.104385

A single centre study of viral community-acquired pneumonia in children: No evidence of SARS-CoV-2 from October 2019 to March 2020

J Clin Virol. 2020 Jul:128:104385. doi: 10.1016/j.jcv.2020.104385. Epub 2020 Apr 29.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Maternal Science, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
² Laboratory of Virology, Department of Molecular Medicine, Affiliated to Istituto Pasteur Italia - Cenci Bolognetti Foundation, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
³ Department of Maternal Science, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: midulla@uniroma1.it.

Abstract

Pneumonia is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in children. We described viral aetiologies, with particular interest in detecting SARS-CoV-2, in hospitalized pneumonia children. Human rhinovirus was the most frequently detected agent. No children tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Our findings suggest that SARS-CoV-2 infection is rare in children and it was not circulating in Rome before COVID-19 outbreak.

Keywords: COVID-19; Community Acquired Pneumonia; SARS-CoV-2; Virus.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Betacoronavirus / isolation & purification*
COVID-19
Child
Child, Preschool
Community-Acquired Infections / epidemiology*
Community-Acquired Infections / virology
Coronavirus Infections / epidemiology*
Coronavirus Infections / virology
Demography
Disease Outbreaks*
Female
Humans
Infant
Male
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral / epidemiology*
Pneumonia, Viral / virology
Rome / epidemiology
SARS-CoV-2