Introduction

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)1, has created a global healthcare pandemonium with over 21 million cases and over 755,000 deaths reported worldwide as of early August 20202. Since its inception in Wuhan, China in December 2019 as a cluster of cases presenting with influenza-like illness, the virus’ uncurbed spread has spanned over 213 countries and territories resulting in the World Health Organization (WHO) announcing it as a pandemic on 11 March 20203. The disease presented itself in the earlier stages primarily as a respiratory illness with higher morbidity and mortality in older individuals4. However, the evolving trends of this novel disease highlighted the diversity of presenting features and involvement within pediatric age groups. To date, most of the available literature focuses on the adult population leaving a noticeable gap in description of pediatric COVID-19. Of assurance, COVID-19 has fared well in children with initial trends showing milder form of illness, less hospitalizations and minimal fatality as reported in various studies worldwide5-7. However, the evolving disease trends have depicted varied severity in children with United States Center for Disease Control (CDC) releasing a health advisory reporting a Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) related to COVID-19 on May 14th, 20208. Our progressing knowledge about the disease in the past few months necessitates a data-rich meta-analysis of pediatric COVID-19 to establish statistical significance across these studies and thereby, understanding the validity of the observed parameters.
The study aims to describe clinical presentation, laboratory and radiographic findings, treatment modalities and outcomes of pediatric patients under age 19 with COVID-19. Furthermore, the perpetual rapid escalation of cases worldwide and upcoming re-opening of educational institutes necessitates a more inclusive look into pediatric presentations of COVID-19 to guide immediate health and education policy-making worldwide.
Methodology