Epidemiology and Clinical Features of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Children and Adolescents in the Pre-Omicron Era: A Global Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Clinical effectiveness of nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir on the short‐ and long‐term outcome in high‐risk children with COVID‐19

“…Since the first outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) infection in China, 1 the World Health Organization has received reports of over 774 million cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) worldwide 2 . Despite the majority of the initially reported studies during the early pandemic focusing on adults and older individuals, 3,4 subsequent reports have increasingly shown that children can also be infected by SARS‐CoV‐2 5–10 . Most children with COVID‐19 experience only mild symptoms, 11,12 and the case fatality rate is less than 1%; however, approximately onefifth of pediatric SARS‐CoV‐2 infections necessitate hospitalization, with over 4% requiring intensive care 6 .…”

“…2 Despite the majority of the initially reported studies during the early pandemic focusing on adults and older individuals, 3,4 subsequent reports have increasingly shown that children can also be infected by SARS-CoV-2. [5][6][7][8][9][10] Most children with COVID-19 experience only mild symptoms, 11,12 and the case fatality rate is less than 1%; however, approximately onefifth of pediatric SARS-CoV-2 infections necessitate hospitalization, with over 4% requiring intensive care. 6 Even after successfully surviving acute COVID-19, some children may develop post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), presenting complications such as fatigue, cardiopulmonary symptoms, cognitive impairments, and a host of other clinical manifestations, [13][14][15] especially those who experienced initial severe or critical illness, are of young age, or have comorbidities.…”

“…[5][6][7][8][9][10] Most children with COVID-19 experience only mild symptoms, 11,12 and the case fatality rate is less than 1%; however, approximately onefifth of pediatric SARS-CoV-2 infections necessitate hospitalization, with over 4% requiring intensive care. 6 Even after successfully surviving acute COVID-19, some children may develop post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), presenting complications such as fatigue, cardiopulmonary symptoms, cognitive impairments, and a host of other clinical manifestations, [13][14][15] especially those who experienced initial severe or critical illness, are of young age, or have comorbidities. 16,17 Hence, there is an urgent need for an effective strategy to prevent the progression of COVID-19 and the subsequent development of PASC in children.…”