The majority of children with COVID-19 in 26 countries fared well clinically compared to adults during the first four months of the pandemic, a newly released study shows.

Researchers from the Long School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio prepared the study, which is the most significant systematic review to date of children and young adults with COVID-19. EClinicalMedicine, a journal of The Lancet, published the results on June 26, which cover studies published between Jan. 24 and May 14.

Among the findings:

19% of the pediatric population with COVID-19 had no symptoms.

21% exhibited patchy lesions on lung X-rays.

5.6% suffered from co-infections, such as flu, on top of COVID-19.

3.3% were admitted to intensive care units.

Seven deaths were reported.

“Our data is compiled from 131 studies and encompasses 7,780 patients who span the pediatric age spectrum,” said senior study author Alvaro Moreira, MD, MSc, assistant professor of pediatrics at UT Health San Antonio and a fellowship-trained neonatologist.

“In the study, we report the most common symptoms, quantify laboratory findings and describe imaging characteristics of children with COVID-19,” Dr. Moreira said. “Furthermore, we summarize treatments that were administered and offer an initial glimpse of a handful of patients who met the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) criteria for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children.

The most frequent symptoms, similar to the adult population, were fever and cough. Those were found in 59% and 56% of the pediatric population.

In 233 individuals, past medical history was noted, and among this group, 152 were children with compromised immune systems or who had underlying respiratory or cardiac disease.

The number of children with excellent outcomes surprised the research team. “Although we are hearing about severe forms of the disease in children, this is occurring in scarce circumstances,” Dr. Moreira said.

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