Cutaneous manifestations in children with SARS-CoV-2 infection and/or COVID-19: what do we know after 10 months under this pandemic?

backgroundSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become a global crisis. However, cutaneous manifestations in children with SARS-CoV-2 infection have received little attention.

objectiveOur study was aimed to present clinical and cutaneous manifestations of children with SARS-CoV-2 and to provide the basis for early diagnosis.

methodsWe analyzed the clinical data of COVID-19 infected (CI) children worldwide from December 2019 to October 6, 2020, by using search terms "COVID-19," "SARS-CoV-2," "Coronavirus" in combination with "cutaneous," "lesion," "rash," "skin," "dermatology," "epidermis," "dermis," "multisystem inflammatory syndrome." We collected and analyzed the general information, clinical symptoms, cutaneous manifestations, laboratory examination results, history of close contact with CI patients or suspected CI patients, and outcome in CI children.

resultsAmong 90 CI children, there were 46 boys (59%) and 32 girls (41%). Erythema was the most frequent lesion, followed by conjunctivitis, and edematous lesions. Face was the most commonly affected location including lips, conjunctivae, tongue, eyes, and eyelids. Sixty-three (73.3%) patients had multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C). As for clinical symptoms, 70 (81.4%) CI children suffered fever, and 34 (39.5%) patients had lung involvement. Meanwhile, 65.1% of patients had cardiac involvement, 4.7% of patients were asymptomatic, and 71.6% of patients received intravenous immunoglobulin, as well as 31.1% of CI children received systemic corticosteroids. Three children were dead. The most frequent route of infection was familial clustering. As silent virus carriers of CI children, it is important to find out the clinical and cutaneous manifestations in CI children to prevent and control COVID-19 transmission.