Abstract

RADA CUENTAS, Jaime  and  RADA T., Rebeca. EPIDEMIOLOGIA, MICROBIOLOGIA, CLINICA Y DIAGNÓSTICO DE CORONAVIRUS EN PEDIATRÍA. Rev. Méd. La Paz [online]. 2024, vol.30, n.2, pp.74-92.  Epub Sep 30, 2024. ISSN 1726-8958.

The 1918 flu pandemic was the highest mortality event in human history (50 million or more deaths, equivalent to 200 million in today’s world population). We remember this pandemic when we are faced with another emerging infectious disease, such as the growing epidemic of coronavirus disease in 2019 (COVID-19) that gave rise to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This virus spread throughout China in two months with rapid worldwide spread. The estimated global fatality rate is 5.3%. Until October 2, 2020, 34,471,204 cases and 1,025,815 deaths were registered in the world (188 countries), in Bolivia there were 136,219 cases with 8,045 deaths. While people of all age groups are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2, in some patients, underlying comorbidities can further exacerbate the infectious process. The incubation period for COVID-19 is 2 to 14 days. SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the coronaviridae family and order Nidovirales and has a single- stranded RNA genome of positive polarity. Until now, most of the children infected with COVID-19 have been part of an outbreak in a family group and are generally asymptomatic or have mild clinical manifestations and a good prognosis. Both fever and cough are the most common symptoms. Microbiological diagnosis is made by real-time polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) or by sequencing the viral gene. Different rapid tests have been developed for the diagnosis of COVID-19; however, the only one approved by the “Food Drug Administration” (FDA) is the “GeneXpert” platform that can identify virus nucleic acids by RT-PCR in 45 minutes. Serological tests can be useful for diagnosis, especially in epidemiological studies.

Keywords : COVID-19; SarCOV2; Coronavirus.

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