Epidemiological and Clinical Characteristics of COVID-19 in Adolescents and Young Adults

• Main Authors: Jiaqiang Liao, Shibing Fan, Jing Chen, Jianglin Wu, Shunqing Xu, Yuming Guo, Chunhui Li, Xianxiang Zhang, Chuansha Wu, Huaming Mou, Chenxi Song, Feng Li, Guicheng Wu, Jingjing Zhang, Lian Guo, Huawen Liu, Jinglong Lv, Lixin Xu, Chunhui Lang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2020-05-01
• Series: The Innovation
• Subjects: COVID-19; adolescents and young adults; epidemiological and clinical characteristics
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666675820300011

Summary: Background: Adolescents and young adults might play a key role in the worldwide spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) because they are more likely to be involved in overseas study, business, work, and travel. However, the epidemiological and clinical characteristics remain unknown. Methods: We collected demographic, epidemiological, and clinical data from 46 confirmed COVID-19 patients aged 10 to 35 years from the Chongqing Three Gorges Central Hospital. Several key epidemiological parameters, asymptomatic cases, transmission to family members, and clinical characteristics at admission and during treatment were summarized. Results: Of 46 confirmed patients, 14 patients (30.4%) were aged between 10 and 24 years, and 24 (52.2%) patients were male. The estimated mean incubation period was 6.6 days (95% confidence interval [CI] 4.4–9.6). The median serial interval was 1.9 days (95% CI 0.4–6.2). Three of the asymptomatic cases showed transmission to their family members. Only one patient was identified as a severe case at admission. The common symptoms at admission were dry cough (34, 81.0%) and fever (29, 69.1%). Nearly 60% of the patients showed ground-glass opacity on chest computed tomography. Three patients developed acute kidney injury during treatment. Most of the patients (78.3%) recovered and were discharged by the end of the follow-up. Conclusions: This single-center study with a relatively small sample size showed that adolescent and young adult patients with COVID-19 had a long incubation period and a short serial interval. The transmission occurred from asymptomatic cases to family members. Fewer patients developed complications during treatment.