Although the clinical manifestations of COVID-19 are diverse in children, the most frequently reported symptoms to include fever and cough. Among children aged one year and above, other frequently reported symptoms to include shortness of breath, myalgia, and headache. (De Souza et al., 2020). Additionally, gastrointestinal symptoms such as abdominal pain and vomiting are other key symptoms of the disease that may occur with or without the respiratory symptoms in infants who are less than 12 months old, non-specific clinical manifestations such as pyrexia of unknown origin and difficulty with feeding should point to the disease especially when there is a concurrent history of close contact with an infected individual. Nevertheless, the absence of the mentioned symptoms does not imply the absence of pediatric COVID-19: the majority of children are asymptomatic.
The Use of Face Masks in Pediatric Prevention of Covid-19
The use of facemasks is a key prevention strategy of coronavirus disease in the pediatric population. facemasks adapted to fit perfectly to the face have been produced to cater for the pediatric population. To increase compliance, parents and healthcare providers have an important role to play in the education and training of children on the correct use of facemasks. However, the use of facemasks can prove difficult to implement in children especially those below 2 years of age since they have small airways that pose the risk of suffocation (Esposito & Principi Esposito, 2020). In this and other challenging situations where compliance is difficult, other preventive measures such as the washing of hands, social distancing, and staying at home should be instituted for the prevention of the disease in children.
References
De Souza, T. H., Nadal, J. A., Nogueira, R. J., Pereira, R. M., & Brandão, M. B. (2020). Clinical manifestations of children with COVID‐19: a systematic review. Pediatric Pulmonology. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ppul.24885
Esposito, S., & Principi, N. (2020). To mask or not to mask children to overcome COVID-19. European Journal of Pediatrics, 1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7210459/