Scientific literature regarding children and COVID-19

The Xiaoxia Lu paper in NEJM here seems to be the only one that mentions children with coexisting conditions. In a cohort of 1391 children assessed and tested in Wuhan between 28/01-26/02, 171 children were confirmed to have SARS-CoV-2 infection. Only three children required ventilation, but all had pre-existing conditions (hydronephrosis, intussusception and leukemia on chemo). Not surprisingly, the overwhelming majority acquired infection in their families.

A further paper from Wuhan on the epidemiology here confirms the value of social distancing as practiced there, in massively reducing the infection rate. It repeats the observation in the Xiaoxia Lu paper that the majority of childhood infections were acquired in the home. 

Members of the ERN-RND (the European Network for rare diseases) consulted two professors in the field of rare disorders located in Rome for advice. Sadly, Italy is the epicentre of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak at the moment, however they didn’t have much more to add on the outcome for patients with rare diseases who become infected with SARS-CoV-2. They weren’t aware of any insights from colleagues in Northern Italy closer to the most severely affected areas either.