Postnatal symptomatic Zika virus infections in children and adolescents: A systematic review

by Anna Ramond, Ludmila Lobkowicz, Nuria Sanchez Clemente, Aisling Vaughan, Mar ília Dalva Turchi, Annelies Wilder-Smith, Elizabeth B. Brickley BackgroundRecent Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreaks in the Pacific and the Americas have highlighted clinically significant congenital neurological abnormalities resulting from ZIKV infection in pregnancy. However, little is known about ZIKV infections in children and adolescents, a group that is potentially vulnerable to ZIKV neurovirulence. MethodsWe conducted a systematic review on the clinical presentation and complications of children and adolescents aged 0 to 18 years with a robust diagnosis of ZIKV infection. We searched PubMed, Web of Science, LILACs, and EMBASE until 13 February 2020 and screened reference lists of eligible articles. We assessed the studies ’ risk of bias using pre-specified criteria. FindingsOur review collated the evidence from 2543 pediatric ZIKV cases representing 17 countries and territories, identified in 1 cohort study, 9 case series and 22 case reports. The most commonly observed signs and symptoms of ZIKV infection in children and adolescents were mild and included fever, rash, conjunctivitis and arthralgia. The frequency of neurological complications was reported only in the largest case series (identified in 1.0% of cases) and in an additional 14 children identified from hospital-based surveillance studies and case reports. ZIKV-related mortality was primarily accompanied by co-morbidity and was report...
Source: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases - Category: Tropical Medicine Authors: Source Type: research