Table 1.
Results of Meta-analysis on children with COVID-19
| Characteristics | Events/Total | N of studies | Mean/Pooled incidence (%) | 95% CI | I2 (%) | P- value | Publication bias (p- value) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographic information | |||||||
| Male | 2305/4218 | 29 | 53.6 | 49.4–57.7 | 50 | < 0.01 | 0.2161 |
| Age (years) | 4300/4300 | 29 | 7.04 | 5.06–9.08 | 99.79 | < 0.01 | < 0.05 |
| < 1 | 602/4176 | 24 | 12.0 | 6.3–18.8 | 92 | < 0.01 | 0.7211 |
| 1–4 | 456/3791 | 21 | 14.9 | 10.5–19.6 | 60 | < 0.01 | < 0.05 |
| 5–9 | 619/3791 | 21 | 23.2 | 17.7–29.0 | 67 | < 0.01 | < 0.05 |
| 10–14 | 960/3791 | 21 | 23.1 | 21.6–24.6 | 42 | 0.02 | 0.2341 |
| 15–19 | 1253/3962 | 21 | 5.8 | 0.9–13.3 | 95 | < 0.01 | < 0.05 |
| Comorbidities | 159/927 | 12 | 9.9 | 2.0–21.5 | 94 | < 0.01 | 0.5658 |
| Epidemiology | |||||||
| Linkage to Wuhan | 275/465 | 21 | 39.8 | 18.0–63.5 | 95 | < 0.01 | < 0.05 |
| Family cluster | 525/704 | 20 | 81.5 | 71.0–90.3 | 86 | < 0.01 | 0.5347 |
| Severity of disease | |||||||
| Mild & Common | 344/347 | 14 | 100.0 | 99.1–100.0 | 0 | 1.00 | 0.4795 |
| Severe | 2/347 | 14 | 0 | 0.0–0.6 | 0 | 1.0 | 0.0968 |
| Critical | 1/347 | 14 | 0 | 0.0–0.5 | 0 | 1.0 | < 0.05 |
| Clinical manifestations | |||||||
| Asymptomatic | 248/1726 | 28 | 18.9 | 12.1–26.6 | 86 | < 0.01 | < 0.05 |
| Fever | 941/2017 | 29 | 52.7 | 44.3–62.0 | 87 | < 0.01 | 0.1689 |
| Mild (37.7 °C–38.0 °C) | 72/426 | 14 | 19.2 | 12.0–27.4 | 56 | < 0.01 | 0.0575 |
| Moderate (38.1 °C–39.0 °C) | 95/433 | 15 | 15.5 | 9.0–22.9 | 54 | < 0.01 | 0.0819 |
| High (39.1 °C-) | 44/438 | 15 | 8.2 | 2.8–15.3 | 66 | < 0.01 | 0.5681 |
| Cough | 1035/2017 | 29 | 41.9 | 35.7–48.1 | 72 | < 0.01 | < 0.05 |
| Expectoration | 14/270 | 17 | 1.4 | 0.0–4.1 | 43 | 0.03 | 0.464 |
| Pharyngeal erythema | 105/429 | 17 | 6.0 | 0.0–19.1 | 91 | < 0.01 | < 0.05 |
| Sore throat | 425/1985 | 27 | 5.0 | 0.6–11.8 | 93 | < 0.01 | < 0.05 |
| Rhinorrhea | 455/1827 | 27 | 3.5 | 0.1–9.8 | 93 | < 0.01 | < 0.05 |
| Stuffy nose | 26/592 | 24 | 1.0 | 0.1–2.5 | 46 | < 0.01 | 0.4097 |
| Diarrhea | 98/1021 | 26 | 4.2 | 1.8–7.3 | 45 | < 0.01 | < 0.05 |
| Vomiting | 69/1021 | 26 | 3.5 | 2.1–5.1 | 35 | 0.04 | 0.0632 |
| Tachypnea/dyspnea | 117/1057 | 27 | 2.5 | 1.6–4.8 | 72 | < 0.01 | < 0.05 |
| Fatigue/myalgia | 103/1044 | 25 | 2.7 | 0.3–6.4 | 73 | < 0.01 | < 0.05 |
| Laboratory findings | |||||||
| WBC decreased | 86/509 | 20 | 10.6 | 5.4–16.8 | 60 | < 0.01 | 0.1130 |
| WBC increased | 38/302 | 18 | 10.3 | 6.6–14.6 | 0 | 0.62 | 0.6663 |
| L decreased | 56/497 | 19 | 10.8 | 3.9–19.7 | 80 | < 0.01 | 0.131 |
| L increased | 33/182 | 13 | 15.4 | 9.8–21.7 | 43 | 0.05 | 0.7734 |
| ALT increased | 39/405 | 15 | 6.5 | 3.8–9.6 | 43 | 0.04 | 0.3616 |
| AST increased | 58/423 | 14 | 10.9 | 5.0–18.2 | 65 | < 0.01 | 0.7864 |
| LDH increased | 51/183 | 13 | 23.0 | 8.8–38.3 | 79 | < 0.01 | 0.7704 |
| CRP increased | 107/537 | 18 | 12.3 | 5.4–21.0 | 77 | < 0.01 | 0.2760 |
| Radiographic evaluation | |||||||
| Normal | 166/501 | 23 | 37.4 | 28.0–47.4 | 77 | < 0.01 | < 0.05 |
| GGO | 169/456 | 19 | 35.7 | 31.0–40.5 | 49 | < 0.01 | 0.6935 |
| Consolidation | 38/224 | 14 | 10.5 | 1.6–23.6 | 80 | < 0.01 | 0.7874 |
| Unilateral compromised | 93/365 | 15 | 28.2 | 19.4–37.8 | 55 | 0.01 | 0.0912 |
| Bilateral compromised | 74/365 | 15 | 21.9 | 10.4–35.5 | 80 | < 0.01 | 0.2329 |
| Therapy | |||||||
| Oxygen therapy | 38/480 | 17 | 4.9 | 2.7–7.5 | 22 | 0.2 | 0.2031 |
| Antiviral treatmen | |||||||
| Interferon | 140/370 | 15 | 63.0 | 25.5–93.9 | 98 | < 0.01 | < 0.05 |
| Lopinavir-ritonavir | 68/216 | 13 | 26.0 | 11.8–42.7 | 83 | < 0.01 | 0.5968 |
| Ribavirin | 14/216 | 13 | 2.9 | 0.5–6.4 | 46 | 0.03 | 0.8658 |
| Oseltamivir | 40/216 | 13 | 10.5 | 0.5–27.2 | 88 | < 0.01 | 0.755 |
| Arbidor | 35/216 | 13 | 5.9 | 0.0–17.8 | 82 | < 0.01 | 0.1585 |
| Antibiotics | 23/182 | 13 | 11.3 | 1.8–25.4 | 79 | < 0.01 | 0.1121 |
| Corticosteroid | 6/387 | 16 | 0.0 | 0.0–0.4 | 13 | 0.30 | < 0.05 |
| Immunoglobin | 8/381 | 16 | 0.0 | 0.0–0.3 | 55 | < 0.01 | < 0.05 |
| Mechanic ventilation | 6/737 | 23 | 0.0 | 0.0–0.2 | 0 | 1.0 | 0.1143 |
| Outcomes | |||||||
| Discharged | 419/553 | 20 | 84.1 | 69.6–95.1 | 92 | < 0.01 | 0.7479 |
| ICU admission | 32/1587 | 28 | 0.1 | 0.0–1.3 | 51 | < 0.01 | 0.1641 |
| Death | 4/4278 | 14 | 0.0 | 0.0–0.0 | 0 | 1 | < 0.05 |
Note: WBC white blood cell counts, L lymphocyte counts, AST aspartate aminotransferase, ALT alanine aminotransferase, LDH lactate dehydrogenase, CRP C-reactive protein, GGO ground-glass opacity, ICU intensive care unit
If the observed index wasn’t reported in a research, 0 cases were calculated as occurred
Linkage to Wuhan referred to children who resided in Wuhan or travelled to Wuhan or contacted with people from Wuhan before the onset of infection
Family cluster was defined as more than one infected family member residing with the child