Clinical presentations and outcome of severe acute respiratory syndrome in children

Hong Kong has been severely affected by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Contact in households and healthcare settings is thought to be important for transmission, putting children at particular risk. Most data so far, however, have been for adults. We prospectively followed up the first te...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Lancet (British edition) 2003-05, Vol.361 (9370), p.1701-1703
Main Authors: Hon, KLE, Leung, CW, Cheng, WTF, Chan, PKS, Chu, WCW, Kwan, YW, Li, AM, Fong, NC, Ng, PC, Chiu, MC, Li, CK, Tam, JS, Fok, TF
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Administration, Oral
Adolescent
Adolescents
Adult
Adults
Age Factors
Biological and medical sciences
Cefotaxime - administration & dosage
Child
Child care
Child, Preschool
Children
Clarithromycin - administration & dosage
Clinical outcomes
Consolidation
Cough
Dietary supplements
Disease control
Disease management
Disease Outbreaks
Drug Administration Schedule
Drug Therapy, Combination - therapeutic use
Epidemics
Fever
Follow-Up Studies
Health care
Hong Kong - epidemiology
Households
Human viral diseases
Humans
Infant
Infectious diseases
Injections, Intravenous
Intravenous administration
Laboratories
Lung - diagnostic imaging
Lymphopenia
Lymphopenia - etiology
Mechanical ventilation
Medical sciences
Medical treatment
Methylprednisolone
Methylprednisolone - administration & dosage
Oxygen
Oxygen Inhalation Therapy
Patients
Pneumonia
Prednisolone
Prednisolone - administration & dosage
Prospective Studies
Ribavirin
Ribavirin - administration & dosage
Severe acute respiratory syndrome
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - complications
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - diagnosis
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - drug therapy
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - epidemiology
Teenagers
Thorax
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
Treatment Outcome
Tropical medicine
Ventilation
Viral diseases
Viral diseases of the respiratory system and ent viral diseases
Young adults
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Summary:Hong Kong has been severely affected by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Contact in households and healthcare settings is thought to be important for transmission, putting children at particular risk. Most data so far, however, have been for adults. We prospectively followed up the first ten children with SARS managed during the early phase of the epidemic in Hong Kong. All the children had been in close contact with infected adults. Persistent fever, cough, progressive radiographic changes of chest and lymphopenia were noted in all patients. The children were treated with high-dose ribavirin, oral prednisolone, or intravenous methylprednisolone, with no short-term adverse effects. Four teenagers required oxygen therapy and two needed assisted ventilation. None of the younger children required oxygen supplementation. Compared with adults and teenagers, SARS seems to have a less aggressive clinical course in younger children.
ISSN:0140-6736
1474-547X
DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(03)13364-8