The causal connection between serum biomarkers and COVID-19 severity or pathogenicity in children is unclear. The aim of this study was to describe clinical and immunological features of children affected by COVID-19. The secondary aim was to evaluate whether these cytokines could predict severity of COVID-19. All children (aged 0−18) admitted to the Pediatric Emergency Department and tested with nasopharyngeal swab for SARS-CoV-2 were recruited and assigned to three groups: COVID-19, other infections, control group. Clinical and laboratory data of these patients, including circulating cytokine levels, were analyzed in three groups. Fever was the most frequent symptom in COVID-19 (67.3%). Neutropenia was found in the COVID-19 group ( p < 0.05); no difference was observed for lymphocyte counts in the three groups. Higher levels of IL-6 and TNF-alpha were found in the COVID-19 group compared to other infections and control groups ( p = 0.014 and p = 0.001, respectively). Whereas, in the COVID-19 group, no difference was observed as for the same cytokines among sub-groups of different disease severity ( p = 0.7 and p = 0.8). Serum levels of IL-6 and TNF-alpha were higher in COVID-19 children than in children with other infectious diseases, but those levels did not correlate with disease severity. Clinical studies in a large pediatric population are necessary to better define the role of the immune-mediated response in SARS-CoV-2 infections in children.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, Cytokines, IL-6, children, TNF-α, 【초록키워드】 SARS-CoV-2, Cytokines, Infectious diseases, Diseases, IL-6, SARS-COV-2 infection, pediatric, disease severity, Infection, COVID-19 severity, cytokine, Symptom, emergency department, Lymphocyte count, Nasopharyngeal swab, lymphocyte, infections, severity of COVID-19, clinical, Clinical studies, pathogenicity, TNF-alpha, serum biomarkers, SARS-CoV-2 infections, patients, predict, cytokine levels, Immune-mediated, neutropenia, Emergency, other infectious diseases, connection, control group, serum levels, no difference, laboratory data, control groups, three groups, COVID-19 group, circulating, lymphocyte counts, Department, Clinical and laboratory data, immunological, feature, tested, analyzed, affected, evaluate, recruited, assigned, serum biomarker, 【제목키워드】 SARS-CoV-2, response,