Back to Search Start Over

Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Los Angeles County youth during the first year of the pandemic

Authors :
Tawny Saleh
Tara Kerin
Trevon Fuller
Sophia Paiola
Mary C. Cambou
Yash Motwani
Caitlin N. Newhouse
Shangxin Yang
Edwin Kamau
Omai B. Garner
Sukantha Chandrasekaran
Karin Nielsen-Saines
Source :
International Journal of Infectious Diseases, Vol 122, Iss , Pp 514-520 (2022)
Publication Year :
2022
Publisher :
Elsevier, 2022.

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to characterize SARS-CoV-2 infection patterns in Los Angeles (LA) County youth followed at our institution during the first pandemic year. Design: A prospective cohort of patients aged < 25 years who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 using reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays between March 13, 2020, and March 31, 2021, was evaluated at a large LA County health network. Demographics, age distribution, and disease severity were analyzed. Results: There were 28,088 youth aged < 25 years tested for SARS-CoV-2 using RT-PCR, with 1849 positive results identified (7%). Among the positive results, 475 of 11,922 (4%) were identified at the pandemic onset (March-September 2020) (Cohort 1) and 1374 of 16,166 (9%) between October 2020 and March 2021 (Cohort 2), P < 0.001. When disease severity was compared across cohorts, Cohort 2 had a greater proportion of asymptomatic and mild/moderate disease categories than Cohort 1 (98% vs 80%, respectively); conversely, Cohort 1 had a near–10-fold higher proportion of severe disease than Cohort 2 (17% vs 1.8%). Cohort 2 comprised younger patients with a mean age of 13.7 years vs 17.3 years in Cohort 1. Older age was associated with a higher percentage of infection, with 63% of all confirmed cases found in participants aged 19 to 25 years in Cohort 1, compared with 38% of confirmed cases in Cohort 2. Age increase was also associated with greater disease severity by linear regression modeling (P< 0.001). Conclusion: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disease severity in youth decreased over time in LA County during the first pandemic year, likely a reflection of changing demographics, with younger children infected. A higher infection rate in youth did not lead to higher disease severity over time.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
12019712
Volume :
122
Issue :
514-520
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
International Journal of Infectious Diseases
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.be0aed2b344641c192d92db3f76bf3e8
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2022.06.040