Deaths in children and young people in England after SARS-CoV-2 infection during the first pandemic year
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is rarely fatal in children and young people (CYP, <18 years old), but quantifying the risk of death is challenging because CYP are often infected with SARS-CoV-2 exhibiting no or minimal symptoms. To distinguish between CYP who died as a result of SARS-CoV-2 infection and those who died of another cause but were coincidentally infected with the virus, we undertook a clinical review of all CYP deaths with a positive SARS-CoV-2 test from March 2020 to February 2021. The predominant SARS-CoV-2 variants were wild-type and Alpha. Here we show that, of 12,023,568 CYP living in England, 3,105 died, including 61 who were positive for SARS-CoV-2. Of these deaths, 25 were due to SARS-CoV-2 infection (mortality rate, two per million), including 22 due to coronavirus disease 2019—the clinical disease associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection—and 3 were due to pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2. In total, 99.995% of CYP with a positive SARS-CoV-2 test survived. CYP older than 10 years, Asian and Black ethnic backgrounds and comorbidities were over-represented in SARS-CoV-2-related deaths compared with other CYP deaths. These results are important for guiding decisions on shielding and vaccinating children. New variants might have different mortality risks and should be evaluated in a similar way.
Date Issued
2021-11-11
Date Acceptance
2021-10-13
Citation
Nature Medicine, 2021, 28, pp.185-192
ISSN
1078-8956
Publisher
Nature Research
Start Page
185
End Page
192
Journal / Book Title
Nature Medicine
Volume
28
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc. 2021. The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-021-01578-1
Sponsor
National Institute for Health Research
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000717406200009&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Grant Number
UCL Contract ID: 5477035
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Cell Biology
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Research & Experimental Medicine
EPIDEMIOLOGY
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2021-11-11