Though the Omicron variant caused the most symptoms in pediatric patients, there were no differences in adverse outcomes by COVID-19 variant.
Each new variant of concern that rises to dominance changes what we know about the COVID-19 virus. At the beginning of the pandemic, children were believed to be immune to symptomatic COVID-19 infection, but this was disproved by the emergence of highly virulent strains.
The symptoms and severity of COVID-19 disease are as changeable as the virus itself. A new study1, published in JAMA Network Open, examined whether variant type alters the symptom profiles of children infected with COVID-19.
The multicenter cohort study evaluated children in Canadian tertiary care emergency departments. The pediatric patients presented at 1 of 14 urban emergency departments between August 4, 2020-February 22, 2022.