Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in adolescents: An update on current clinical and diagnostic characteristics

Acta Biomed. 2020 May 11;91(2):184-194. doi: 10.23750/abm.v91i2.9543.

Abstract

The current outbreak of infections with SARS-CoV-2 is defined as Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The clinical symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, fatigue, cough, breathing difficulty that may lead to respiratory distress; a small population of patients may have diarrhea, nausea or vomiting. The highest infection rate occurs in adults; however, neonates, children, and adolescents can also be infected. As the outbreak continues to spread worldwide, attention has switched toward determinants of clinical manifes- tations and disease severity. The situation surrounding the outbreak is rapidly evolving and the information and recommendations are changing as new information becomes available. This paper summarises the cur- rent findings (April 3,2020) from a systematic literature review on the current knowledge of COVID-19 in adolescents (10-19 years according to the WHO definition) and reports the preliminary epidemiological data stated by the Italian National Institute of Health.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Betacoronavirus*
  • COVID-19
  • COVID-19 Testing
  • Child
  • Clinical Laboratory Techniques
  • Coronavirus Infections / diagnosis*
  • Humans
  • Pandemics
  • Pneumonia, Viral / diagnosis*
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Young Adult