Characteristics and Risk Factors for SARS-CoV-2 Among Children in Italy Tested in the Early Phase of the Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: No study has described factors associated with COVID-19 diagnosis in children. Methods: Cases aged 0-18 years tested for SARS-CoV-2 between 23rd February and 24th May 2020 in 20 pediatric centers across Italy were analyzed. Our primary analysis aimed to explore sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 in children tested because of suggestive symptoms. Findings: Among 2494 children tested for SARS-CoV-2, 2148 (86.1%) had symptoms suggestive of COVID-19, the remaining were asymptomatic children tested because of COVID-19 contact or children tested through hospital screenings. Clinical presentation of SARS-CoV-2 included -beside fever (82.4%) and respiratory signs or symptoms (60.4%) - gastrointestinal (18.2%), neurological (18.9%), cutaneous (3.8%) and other flu-like presentations (17.8%). In multivariate analysis, factors significantly associated with SARS-CoV-2 were: exposure history (adjusted OR 39.83 95%CI 17.52-90.55 p