Archives of Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Volume:8 Issue: 3, Jul 2020

The laboratory diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 should be done to confirm coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in suspected patients. Although several diagnostic methods have been developed in this regard, their accuracy for clinical application is not very clear yet. To compare the diagnostic value of laboratory tests for the detection of COVID-19 infection, this study provides an upcoming review of the newly developed detection methods. Sensitivity, specificity, detection limit, and turn-around-time of these methods are compared and challenges for their application in clinical settings are reviewed. PubMed and Google Scholar web sites were used for the systematic search until April 9, 2020 to identify the published studies based on the following keywords: “Detection”, “Coronavirus 2019”, “SARS-CoV-2”, and “Sensitivity”. Out of 526 results, a total of 54 articles, including 46 studies on detection methods, were considered eligible for the review. The results showed that most of the proposed tests focused on molecular methods, while immunological and point-of-care tests were investigated in 13 studies. There were also a few commercial automated methods for the qualitative detection of SARS-CoV-2 in clinical samples, most of which are not examined in the current review, as no data about their sensitivity and specificity were presented. Although the assessment of publication biases showed that 64% sensitivity and nearly 100% specificity for RT-PCR are close to reality, most of the related reports for serological methods are not valid and further studies are needed to confirm their utility in clinical settings. Moreover, the RT-PCR test alone cannot act as a gold standard because of bias in measurements. Therefore, antibody tests and other proposed methods could be used as supplementary diagnostic tests to improve RT-PCR accuracy. Although clinical findings are invaluable, in many cases, they can provide more valuable supportive data than serological tests.

SARS-CoV-2 is a novel infectious agent that rapidly spread from a single city in China to all parts of the world. Right now, the world is facing a major pandemic crisis and every infected patient can infect the other two to three persons. The non-specific symptoms at the early stages of coronavirus 2019 (Covid-19) and also the presence of infected asymptomatic patients result in the absence of accurate estimation of infected patients. Although coronaviruses often affect the upper or lower respiratory tract, viral shedding in plasma or serum can occur and therefore, there is a theoretical risk regarding the transmission of these viruses by transfusion. Experience with other viruses from the corona family group (SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV) tells us that Covid-19 might have a significant impact on blood supply. Until now, SARS-CoV-2 has not been identified as a transfusion transmissible virus and viremia has only been diagnosed in serious patients who would not be allowed for blood donation. In this review article, the safety of blood products during the Covid-19 outbreak is discussed.

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised a huge sense of anxiety in people and health care staff. Yet, there are concerns regarding the exact routes of transmission and the best protective measures in health centers. It seems that a major route of transmission is via respiratory droplets, but it could be spread in an airborne mode in some airborne-producing procedures. This study provides a protocol as a quick, concise infection control module for those who work in operating rooms at the time of the outbreak of COVID-19 or similar infectious diseases.

 This scoping review tries to synthesize early findings on the immunopathogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 to assess the emerging therapies and vaccines by evaluating their impact based on the mechanism of pathogenicity.

The three databases of PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar were searched from January 1, 2020, to March 15, 2020. To extract the results from the studies, the content, thematic analysis method was used. In this method, the topics studied were coded in the articles, and then major topics related to the articles were determined. After identifying major issues, the contents of the articles were reviewed.

A total of 2,250 articles were retrieved after deleting duplications, and after reviewing the thematic relevance, 45 of them were selected for the final analysis. Topics studied in the articles were classified into four main areas, including “virus entry inhibition and immune response”, “vaccine and treatment targets”, “genome structure similarity to other coronaviruses,” and “pathogensis”.

Results of this review showed that we have a long way to develop an effective and safe vaccine due to the structural and behavioral complexities of this virus. In the meantime, the scientific community should use results of megatrials, but until their accomplishing them, we have to use results of systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials.

A series of unexplained pneumonia cases were first reported as of December 2019, in Wuhan, China. Official names have been announced for the novel human coronavirus responsible for the pneumonia outbreak in China, and the disease it causes has been announced Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Despite great efforts worldwide to control the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, the spread of the virus has recently reached a pandemic. Currently, infection prevention and control of this virus are the primary concerns for public health officials and professionals. In this review, the current status of epidemiology, diagnosis, and potential treatment options of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and the possible reasons for milder presentations of COVID-19 in children than in adults were discussed to provide an insight into the further characterization of COVID-19 in children.

 The most recent evidence about the clinical features and potential reasons for the non-susceptibility of children to SARS-CoV-2 infection have been provided in the present narrative review. A systematic search was performed in some databases/search engines, including ISI Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar. Then, the relevant published articles were reviewed. The keywords utilized for finding related articles were Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), pediatric, COVID-19, treatment, Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2), clinical feature, coronavirus, and pneumonia.

Based on the findings, respiratory infections caused by the virus are more frequent in children aged five years or younger than in other age groups. However, the currently available data suggest that COVID-19 infection in children seems to be uncommon. Moreover, in the case of infection with SARS-CoV-2, the disease presentation is frequently milder than in adults and the overall burden in children was reported to be relatively low.

Several explanations have been suggested to justify the milder symptoms in children than in adults, including differences in immunity systems of children and adults and differences in ACE2 expression as a receptor for virus attachment. Moreover, while children tend to present mild symptoms of infection, their role in the spread of the disease in the community should not be ignored.

SARS-CoV-2 infection is spreading worldwide, and due to multi-organ involvement, it could mimic other well-known diseases.

Herein, we describe the case of a pediatric patient with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), who developed severe respiratory illness with diffuse pulmonary involvement after consuming all-transretinoic acid during the COVID-19 pandemic.

All-transretinoic acid syndrome is a very similar condition to COVID-19 both in clinical presentations and radiologic findings; thus, the treatment of such patients may be challenging.

Since the end of December 2019, most countries have been affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic. The prevalence of COVID-19 in children has been reported much lower than adults. Most patients have mild symptoms, whereas some cases are asymptomatic. Information on the pediatric clinical manifestations is limited; therefore, reporting specific cases can improve the diagnosis process.

In this article, we reported a 12-year-old boy with chickenpox and COVID-19 at the same time. The patient initially had symptoms of chickenpox and then developed pneumonia. The PCR-test for COVID-19 was positive. The IgM test was positive, and IgG was negative. Chickenpox infection was confirmed by the serological test (positive IgM). The radiographic results showed reverse halo sign and vascular enlargement.

These imaging findings are uncommon signs of COVID-19 in pediatrics. The patient was treated with hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin and discharged a few days later with good condition.

With the outbreak of coronavirus 2019 (SARS-COV-2), the prevention and control of SARS-COV-2 infection in pregnant women and the potential risk of vertical transmission has become a major concern.

We report the case of a newborn in Iran with the manifestations of myocarditis at birth. The diagnosis of SARS-COV-2 infection was confirmed for the mother and the neonate by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) using a pharyngeal specimen.

Based on our literature review, there is still insufficient evidence to determine the effect of SARS-COV-2 infection on the fetus. Given the possibility of cardiac injury in SARS-COV-2 disease and manifestation of congenital myocarditis in our case, maternal vertical transmission of SARS-COV-2 could be considered.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the leading cause of death since December 2019. The most common clinical manifestations are cough, fever, and dyspnea; however, non-specific findings are also reported. This virus affects all age groups with a predilection to the adults, but children and neonates can also be affected.

An 11-days-old male neonate was brought to the hospital with chief complaints of vomiting and severe watery diarrhea. All laboratory data, including the stool OB/OP test, were normal except for leukocytosis. His parents were asymptomatic. In the following, qRT-PCR from neonate’s nasopharynx reported positive. Supportive and symptomatic treatments were done. The neonate discharged from the hospital without any significant sequelae.

Extrapulmonary manifestation of COVID-19, especially gastrointestinal findings, should be considered in neonates to avoid possible complications and further spread of the disease.