Table 1.
Characteristics of UK school-aged children presenting with COVID-19 during periods of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha or Delta variant predominance.
| Overall Symptomatic Children with Positive SARS-CoV-2 Test | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha Variant Period | Delta Variant Period | |||||
| Younger Children (Aged 5–11 Years) |
Older Children (Aged 12–17 Years) |
Overall Cohort (Aged 5–17 Years) |
Younger Children (Aged 5–11 Years) |
Older Children (Aged 12–17 Years) |
Overall Cohort (Aged 5–17 Years) |
|
| Number | 276 | 418 | 694 | 227 | 479 | 706 |
| Males (n (%)) | 144 (52.2) | 213 (50.9) | 357 (51.4) | 102 (44.9) | 255 (53.2) | 357 (50.6) |
| Age, years (median (IQR)) | 9 (7–10) | 15 (13–16) | 12 (9–15) | 9 (8–11) | 15 (13–16) | 14 (13–16) |
| BMI (kg/m2) (median (IQR)) | 16.44 (14.79–18.90) | 19.53 (17.24–22.07) | 18.16 (15.97–21.16) | 16.68 (14.61–19.27) | 18.97 (16.88–21.31) | 18.21 (16.01–20.96) |
| Asthma (n (%)) | 32 (11.6) | 49 (11.7) | 81 (11.6) | 24 (10.6) | 56 (11.7) | 80 (11.3) |
| Heart disease (n (%)) | 0 (0.0) | 3 (0.9) | 3 (0.4) | 2 (0.7) | 1 (0.2) | 3 (0.4) |
| Diabetes (n (%)) | 1 (0.4) | 4 (1.0) | 5 (0.8) | 1 (0.4) | 1 (0.2) | 2 (0.3) |
| Renal disease (n (%)) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.2) | 4 (0.1) |
| Number of children presenting to hospital * (n (%)) | 6 (2.2) | 8 (1.9) | 14 (2.0) | 8 (3.5) | 8 (1.7) | 16 (2.2) |
| Illness duration (median (IQR)) | 4 (2–8) | 6 (3–10) | 5 (2–9.75) | 4 (2–7.5) | 6 (3–10) | 5 (2–9) |
| Number of symptoms in the first week (median (IQR)) | 3 (2–5) | 5 (3–7) | 4 (2–6) | 4 (2–6) | 6 (3–9) | 5 (3–8) |
| Number of children with illness duration ≥ 28 days (n (%)) |
2 (0.7) | 10 (2.4) | 14 (1.7) | 3 (1.3) | 12 (2.5) | 15 (2.1) |
BMI, Body Mass Index; IQR, Interquartile Range. * Presentation to hospital: presenting to the emergency department and/or admission to hospital.