COVID-19 in Children: A Review and Parallels to Other Hyperinflammatory Syndromes

Antibiotic Overprescribing among Neonates and Children Hospitalized with COVID-19 in Pakistan and the Implications

There are concerns with excessive antibiotic prescribing among patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, increasing antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Most studies have been conducted in adults with limited data on neonates and children, including in Pakistan. A retrospective study was conducted among four referral/tertiary care hospitals, including the clinical manifestations, laboratory findings, the prevalence of bacterial co-infections or secondary bacterial infections and antibiotics prescribed among neonates and children hospitalized due to COVID-19. Among 1237 neonates and children, 511 were admitted to the COVID-19 wards and 433 were finally included in the study. The majority of admitted children were COVID-19-positive (85.9%) with severe COVID-19 (38.2%), and 37.4% were admitted to the ICU. The prevalence of bacterial co-infections or secondary bacterial infections was 3.7%; however, 85.5% were prescribed antibiotics during their hospital stay (average 1.70 ± 0.98 antibiotics per patient). Further, 54.3% were prescribed two antibiotics via the parenteral route (75.5%) for ≤5 days (57.5), with most being 'Watch' antibiotics (80.4%). Increased antibiotic prescribing was reported among patients requiring mechanical ventilation and high WBCs, CRP, D-dimer and ferritin levels (p < 0.001). Increased COVID-19 severity, length of stay and hospital setting were significantly associated with antibiotic prescribing (p < 0.001). Excessive antibiotic prescribing among hospitalized neonates and children, despite very low bacterial co-infections or secondary bacterial infections, requires urgent attention to reduce AMR.

SARS-CoV-2 infection induces inflammatory bone loss in golden Syrian hamsters

Extrapulmonary complications of different organ systems have been increasingly recognized in patients with severe or chronic Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, limited information on the skeletal complications of COVID-19 is known, even though inflammatory diseases of the respiratory tract have been known to perturb bone metabolism and cause pathological bone loss. In this study, we characterize the effects of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection on bone metabolism in an established golden Syrian hamster model for COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 causes significant multifocal loss of bone trabeculae in the long bones and lumbar vertebrae of all infected hamsters. Moreover, we show that the bone loss is associated with SARS-CoV-2-induced cytokine dysregulation, as the circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines not only upregulate osteoclastic differentiation in bone tissues, but also trigger an amplified pro-inflammatory cascade in the skeletal tissues to augment their pro-osteoclastogenesis effect. Our findings suggest that pathological bone loss may be a neglected complication which warrants more extensive investigations during the long-term follow-up of COVID-19 patients. The benefits of potential prophylactic and therapeutic interventions against pathological bone loss should be further evaluated.

Although extrapulmonary complications of different organ systems are recognized in patients with severe COVID19 effects are less well studied. Here, Qiao et al. characterize the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 on bone metabolism in Syrian hamster and find that bone loss is associated with virus-mediated cytokine dysregulation.

COVID-19 Vasculitis and vasculopathy-Distinct immunopathology emerging from the close juxtaposition of Type II Pneumocytes and Pulmonary Endothelial Cells

The SARS-CoV-2 virus ACE-2 receptor utilization for cellular entry and the defined ACE-2 receptor role in cardiovascular medicine hinted at dysregulated endothelial function or even direct viral endotheliitis as the key driver of severe COVID-19 vascular immunopathology including reports of vasculitis. In this article, we critically review COVID-19 immunopathology from the vasculitis perspective and highlight the non-infectious nature of vascular endothelial involvement in severe COVID-19. Whilst COVID-19 lung disease pathological changes included juxta-capillary and vascular macrophage and lymphocytic infiltration typical of vasculitis, we review the evidence reflecting that such “vasculitis” reflects an extension of pneumonic inflammatory pathology to encompass these thin-walled vessels. Definitive, extrapulmonary clinically discernible vasculitis including cutaneous and cardiac vasculitis also emerged- namely a dysregulated interferon expression or “COVID toes” and an ill-defined systemic Kawasaki-like disease. These two latter genuine vasculitis pathologies were not associated with severe COVID-19 pneumonia. This was distinct from cutaneous vasculitis in severe COVID-19 that demonstrated pauci-immune infiltrates and prominent immunothrombosis that appears to represent a novel immunothrombotic vasculitis mimic contributed to by RNAaemia or potentially diffuse pulmonary venous tree thrombosis with systemic embolization with small arteriolar territory occlusion, although the latter remains unproven. Herein, we also performed a systematic literature review of COVID-19 vasculitis and reports of post-SARS-CoV-2 vaccination related vasculitis with respect to the commonly classified pre-COVID vasculitis groupings. Across the vasculitis spectrum, we noted that Goodpasture’s syndrome was rarely linked to natural SARS-CoV-2 infection but not vaccines. Both the genuine vasculitis in the COVID-19 era and the proposed vasculitis mimic should advance the understanding of both pulmonary and systemic vascular immunopathology.

Management of Children Admitted to Hospitals across Bangladesh with Suspected or Confirmed COVID-19 and the Implications for the Future: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study

There is an increasing focus on researching children admitted to hospital with new variants of COVID-19, combined with concerns with hyperinflammatory syndromes and the overuse of antimicrobials. Paediatric guidelines have been produced in Bangladesh to improve their care. Consequently, the objective is to document the management of children with COVID-19 among 24 hospitals in Bangladesh. Key outcome measures included the percentage prescribed different antimicrobials, adherence to paediatric guidelines and mortality rates using purposely developed report forms. The majority of 146 admitted children were aged 5 years or under (62.3%) and were boys (58.9%). Reasons for admission included fever, respiratory distress and coughing; 86.3% were prescribed antibiotics, typically parenterally, on the WHO ‘Watch’ list, and empirically (98.4%). There were no differences in antibiotic use whether hospitals followed paediatric guidance or not. There was no prescribing of antimalarials and limited prescribing of antivirals (5.5% of children) and antiparasitic medicines (0.7%). The majority of children (92.5%) made a full recovery. It was encouraging to see the low hospitalisation rates and limited use of antimalarials, antivirals and antiparasitic medicines. However, the high empiric use of antibiotics, alongside limited switching to oral formulations, is a concern that can be addressed by instigating the appropriate programmes.

Single-cell immunology of SARS-CoV-2 infection

Gaining a better understanding of the immune cell subsets and molecular factors associated with protective or pathological immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV)-2 could aid the development of vaccines and therapeutics for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Single-cell technologies, such as flow cytometry, mass cytometry, single-cell transcriptomics and single-cell multi-omic profiling, offer considerable promise in dissecting the heterogeneity of immune responses among individual cells and uncovering the molecular mechanisms of COVID-19 pathogenesis. Single-cell immune-profiling studies reported to date have identified innate and adaptive immune cell subsets that correlate with COVID-19 disease severity, as well as immunological factors and pathways of potential relevance to the development of vaccines and treatments for COVID-19. For facilitation of integrative studies and meta-analyses into the immunology of SARS-CoV-2 infection, we provide standardized, download-ready versions of 21 published single-cell sequencing datasets (over 3.2 million cells in total) as well as an interactive visualization portal for data exploration.

COVID-19 in pregnant women and children: Insights on clinical manifestations, complexities, and pathogenesis

Pregnancy changes the body's immune system to counteract the spectrum of infections, including COVID-19, which can pose complications. Pregnant women are less likely to contract COVID-19 infections than the general public. However, pregnant women are at slightly increased risk of becoming severely unwell if they do catch COVID-19, and congenital conditions in pregnant women may worsen the state of infection and lead to critical stages and even mortality. The possibility of vertical transmission has been reported in only a few cases of COVID-19; however, it was not noted in cases of SARS and MERS. Vaccination coverage in pregnant women remains a challenge. Children are the next suspected and vulnerable population to acquire infection after the first and second waves. Children are disproportionately infected compared with older populations, but the severity of infection is less compared to adults. This review highlights the complexities of COVID-19 in pregnant women and the underlying reasons why children tend to be comparatively less severely affected. Ethnicity, nutrition, lifestyle, and therapeutics influence the severity of infection in children. Low expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptors, indigenous virus competence, and maternal immunity is the first-line defense for children against COVID-19. Habituating herbal medicines from childhood may help support a robust and defensive immune system to counteract novel antigens and encourage healthy generations.

Cytokine storms, evolution and COVID-19

Many treatments for COVID-19 are aimed at calming a cytokine storm, a dangerous immune overreaction to the infection. Treating cytokine storms has been tried for decades in sepsis and other viral illnesses, but these treatments most often do not work. We explain why cytokine storms should be rare, and what special evolutionary circumstances can cause them to occur.

Since the identification of severe illness caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the role of the host immune system in causing disease has attracted widespread attention, along with intense interest in medical interventions that target the host immune response. A wide variety of agents have been proposed to treat a cytokine storm in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but so far, only one class of medications, corticosteroids, has proved useful. In recent decades, experimental therapies for cytokine storms have been tried and mostly failed to help patients with severe sepsis and other infections. We summarize this history in order to frame expectations for novel interventions in COVID-19 and to bring an evolutionary medicine perspective to the concept of cytokine storms and their treatment.

An 11-Year-Old Saudi Arabian Girl Who Presented with Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) Associated with SARS-CoV-2 Infection with Coronary Artery Aneurysm and Cardiac Involvement: A Case Report

BACKGROUND Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, children who were infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus2 (SARS-CoV-2) with vascular inflammation were described as having a vasculitis similar to Kawasaki's disease. There are now consensus clinical guidelines that have described the presentation and diagnosis of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. This report aims to describe a case of MIS-C in an 11-year-old Saudi Arabian girl who presented with coronary artery aneurysm and cardiac involvement. CASE REPORT We describe an 11-year-old Saudi girl who was asymptomatic for 3 weeks after contracting SARS-CoV-2. Three weeks after suffering a mild flulike illness, she developed a high fever, cough, and severe clinical deterioration within 12 h of admission, including shock, rash, pleural effusion, high inflammatory markers, and a coronary aneurysm. As per current practice, the diagnosis was confirmed as multisystem inflammatory syndrome based on a SARS-CoV-2 test with reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) from 2 nasopharyngeal aspirates. Her condition was successfully treated with antibiotics, inotropes, IVIG, aspirin, and Tocilizumab, in addition to high-flow oxygen therapy. Eventually, she was able to return home after fully recovering. CONCLUSIONS The findings in this report suggest that children with MIS-C due to SARS-CoV-2 infection can have a good prognosis, even when they suffer from coronary artery and cardiac involvement. The increasing number of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants that affect children supports the importance of RT-PCR for the COVID-19 diagnostic test for children with multisystem or cardiovascular inflammation, which may guide the most appropriate clinical management of the variants of MIS-C.

Epidemiological characteristics and clinical manifestations of pediatric patients with COVID-19 in China: A multicenter retrospective study

Importance

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic poses a considerable challenge for pediatricians.

Objective

This study aimed to identify the epidemiological characteristics and clinical features of pediatric patients with COVID-19 in China.

Methods

This multicenter retrospective study included pediatric patients from 46 hospitals in China, covering 12 provinces and two municipalities. Epidemiological, demographic, clinical, laboratory, treatment, and outcome data were analyzed.

Results

In total, 211 pediatric patients with COVID-19 were included in this study. The median age was 7.0 years (range: 22 days to 18 years). Approximately 16.3% of the patients exhibited asymptomatic infections, 23.0% had upper respiratory tract infections, and 60.7% had pneumonia, including two with severe pneumonia and one with critical illness. Approximately 78.7% of the pediatric patients occurred in familial clusters. The most three common symptoms or signs at onset in children with COVID-19 were fever (54.5%), cough (49.3%), and pharyngeal congestion (20.8%). Only 17.6% of the patients presented with decreased lymphocyte count, whereas 13.6% had increased lymphocyte count. Among the patients with pneumonia who exhibited abnormal chest computed tomography findings, 18.2% (23/127) of the patients had no other symptoms. Generally, the chest radiographs showed abnormalities that affected both lungs (49.6%); ground-glass opacity (47.2%) was the most common manifestation. The cure and improvement rates were 86.7% (183/211) and 13.3% (28/211), respectively. Only one patient with an underlying condition received invasive mechanical ventilation; none of the patients died.

Interpretation

Similar to adults, children of all age groups are susceptible to COVID-19. Fortunately, most pediatric patients have mild symptoms or remain asymptomatic, despite the high incidence of pneumonia. Decreased proportions of white blood cells and lymphocytes are less frequent in children than in adults.

The Immune and Inflammatory Basis of Acquired Pediatric Cardiac Disease

Children with acquired heart disease face significant health challenges, including a lifetime of strict medical management, multiple cardiac surgeries, and a high mortality risk. Though the presentation of these conditions is diverse, a unifying factor is the role of immune and inflammatory responses in their development and/or progression. For example, infectious agents have been linked to pediatric cardiovascular disease, leading to a large health burden that disproportionately affects low-income areas. Other implicated mechanisms include antibody targeting of cardiac proteins, infection of cardiac cells, and inflammation-mediated damage to cardiac structures. These changes can alter blood flow patterns, change extracellular matrix composition, and induce cardiac remodeling. Therefore, understanding the relationship between the immune system and cardiovascular disease can inform targeted diagnostic and treatment approaches. In this review, we discuss the current understanding of pediatric immune-associated cardiac diseases, challenges in the field, and areas of research with potential for clinical benefit.

Cerebrospinal fluid cytokine, chemokine, and SARS-CoV-2 antibody profiles in children with neuropsychiatric symptoms associated with COVID-19

Background

Neuropsychiatric symptoms and CSF cytokine, chemokine, and SARS-COV-2 antibody profiles are unknown in pediatric patients with COVID-19 or multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C), (NP-COVID-19).

Methods

Children at a single pediatric institution quaternary referral center with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 or MIS-C and neuropsychiatric symptoms were included in this retrospective case series. Clinical symptoms, ancillary testing data, treatments and outcomes are described. Multiplexed electrochemiluminescence assays for cytokines, chemokines and SARS-CoV-2 antibodies were tested in the CSF NP-COVID-19 patients compared to five controls and were analyzed using the Student's t-test.

Results

Three of five NP-COVID-19 patients had psychiatric symptoms, and two patients had encephalopathy and seizures. All patients had full or near resolution of neuropsychiatric symptoms by discharge. One patient received intravenous steroids for treatment for psychiatric symptoms; 3/5 other patients received immunotherapy for MIS-C, including IVIG, high-dose steroids, anakinra, and tocilizumab. Pro-inflammatory chemokines, including MIG, MPC, MIP-1β, and TARC were significantly elevated in NP-COVID-19 patients compared to controls. Two of five patients had elevated CSF neurofilament light chain. CSF SARS-CoV-2 antibody titers to the full-length spike, receptor binding domain and N-terminal domain were significantly elevated. SARS-CoV-2 antibody titers strongly correlated with pro-inflammatory chemokines/cytokines, including IL-1β, IL-2, IL-8, TNF-α, and IFN-γ (P≤0.05 for all).

Conclusions

A spectrum of neuropsychiatric clinical manifestations can occur in children with SARS-CoV-2 infection. CSF pro-inflammatory chemokines and SARS-CoV-2 antibodies may serve as biomarkers of SARS-CoV-2 mediated NP-COVID-19. Additional study is required to understand the pathophysiologic mechanisms of neuroinflammation in children with COVID-19 and MIS-C.

The Relationship between COVID-19 and Innate Immunity in Children: A Review

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the virus responsible for the pandemic viral pneumonia that was first identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, and has since rapidly spread around the world. The number of COVID-19 cases recorded in pediatric age is around 1% of the total. The immunological mechanisms that lead to a lower susceptibility or severity of pediatric patients are not entirely clear. At the same time, the immune dysregulation found in those children who developed the multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIC-S) is not yet fully understood. The aim of this review is to analyze the possible influence of children's innate immune systems, considering the risk of contracting the virus, spreading it, and developing symptomatic disease or complications related to infection.