Background

Data on the clinical impact of immunocompromised children suffering from SARS-CoV-2 are limited.

The aim of this study is to describe the characteristics of children with primary (PID) or secondary Immunodeficiencies (SID) from a Spanish multicenter study.

Methods

EPICO-AEP is a multicenter cohort study conducted in Spain to assess the characteristics of children with COVID-19. In total, 75 hospitals are collecting data since the beginning of the epidemic in Spain in March 2020

This analysis includes children with PID and SID aged 0 to 18 years attending any of the participating hospitals between 12/03/20 to 23/01/2021, with a microbiologically confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Results

96 children were included (10% of patients recruited): 9 with PID and 87 with SID (42 secondary to immunosuppressive therapy and 42 to malignancy), 53(55.2%) males and a median age of 10.8 years (IQR:5-14.3years). Children with PID were younger compared to those with SID (34.7vs132.2 months,p=0.023). The most common diagnosis related to SARS-CoV-2 was pneumonia (24%), followed by upper respiratory tract infection (21.9%) and fever without a source (14.6%). Data related to laboratory findings, management and mortality is summarized in Table1; there were no statistically differences between PID and SID.

Conclusions

Of note, 4 (4,2%) died, all with SID, which represents 80% (4/5) of patients who died from the entire EPICO-AEP cohort.

In our cohort, patients with PID suffering from SARS-CoV-2 were younger and suffered from lower mortality compared to those with SID.

Data from larger cohorts is needed to better stratify risk groups and their management.