Non-specific oral and cutaneous manifestations of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in children

Abstract

Background Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) seems to affect children only marginally, as a result, there is less knowledge of its manifestations in childhood. The purpose of this retrospective cross-sectional study was to investigate the oral and cutaneous manifestations in children affected by COVID-19. Material and Methods All the medical records of children with COVID-19 admitted to the Pediatric Clinic- ASST Spedali Civili of Brescia from March to April 2020 were reviewed. The following data were recorded: age, temperature, clinical presentation, oral mucosa lesions, taste alteration and cutaneous lesions. Results The medical records of twenty-seven pediatric patients (mean age 4,2 years + 1,7) were analyzed. The clinical presentation of the disease mainly included elevated body temperature and cough. The following oral lesions were recorded: oral pseudomembranous candidiasis (7.4 %), geographic tongue (3.7%), coated tongue (7.4 %) and hyperaemic pharynx (37 %). Taste alteration was reported by 3 patients. Six patients presented cutaneous flat papular lesions. Conclusions As for our paediatric sample, COVID-19 resulted to be associated with non-specific oral and cutaneous manifestations. Key words: Child, COVID-19, oral mucosa, taste.

Oral Manifestations of COVID-19 in Hospitalized Patients: A Systematic Review

“…A total of 35 articles were judged as low risk [ 21 , 26 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 ], 12 as a moderate risk [ 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 ], and 12 as high risk [ 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 ,…”

“…A total of 35 articles were judged as low risk [21,26,, 12 as a moderate risk [67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78], and 12 as high risk [79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86][87][88][89][90] (Table S1).…”

Oral mucosal lesions in patients with COVID-19: a systematic review

“…The most commonly reported oral lesion was oral ulceration which was reported in up to 47% (n = 27) of the cases in one study. 12 Other common oral mucosal changes included changes in the tongue including strawberry tongue, geographic tongue, fissured tongue and macroglossia which has even led to a terminology ‘covid tongue’, 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 with one study reporting these changes in up to 25% of the cases (n = 10). 16 Gingival manifestations included necrotic gingivitis and desquamative gingivitis.…”

“…Among the studies appraised in this review, three studies reported data on paediatric population. 10 , 13 , 14 The paediatric population differed in the presentation of the disease with most cases presenting with mild symptoms but some with severe cases of systemic hyperinflammatory status. The systemic hyperinflammatory reaction to the viral illness appears to be particularly associated with the paediatric population but oral features may still be presenting feature of COVID-19 in children.…”

Oral lesions in paediatric patients with COVID-19 and Paediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome: a review

“…To the best of our knowledge, this is the first review article specifically discussing oral manifestations in paediatric patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, including those with PIMS-TS. The systematic review by Bhujel et al [ 3 ] on the oral mucosal lesions in patients with SARS-CoV-2 identified three studies [ [14] , [15] , [16] ] reporting on paediatric patients, of which two [ 15 , 16 ] specifically reported on PIMS-TS. The cohort study by Rekhtman et al [ 12 ] is possibly the only study to date which categorised the mucocutaneous lesions in hospitalised PIMS-TS and COVID-19 paediatric patients in separate groups.…”