{"doi":"10.1093/infdis/jiab509","title":"Virologic Features of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection in Children","abstract":"BACKGROUND: Data on pediatric coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has lagged behind adults throughout the pandemic. An understanding of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) viral dynamics in children would enable data-driven public health guidance. METHODS: Respiratory swabs were collected from children with COVID-19. Viral load was quantified by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR); viral culture was assessed by direct observation of cytopathic effects and semiquantitative viral titers. Correlations with age, symptom duration, and disease severity were analyzed. SARS-CoV-2 whole genome sequences were compared with contemporaneous sequences. RESULTS: One hundred ten children with COVID-19 (median age, 10 years [range, 2 weeks-21 years]) were included in this study. Age did not impact SARS-CoV-2 viral load. Children were most infectious within the first 5 days of illness, and severe disease did not correlate with increased viral loads. Pediatric SARS-CoV-2 sequences were representative of those in the community and novel variants were identified. CONCLUSIONS: Symptomatic and asymptomatic children can carry high quantities of live, replicating SARS-CoV-2, creating a potential reservoir for transmission and evolution of genetic variants. As guidance around social distancing and masking evolves following vaccine uptake in older populations, a clear understanding of SARS-CoV-2 infection dynamics in children is critical for rational development of public health policies and vaccination strategies to mitigate the impact of COVID-19.","journal":"The Journal of Infectious Diseases","year":2021,"id":152350,"datarank":0.6515708132780527,"base_score":4.343805421853684,"endowment":4.343805421853684,"self_citation_contribution":0.6515708132780527,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.6515708132780527,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":76,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.8927,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2021-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":108357,"name":"Julie Boucau","orcid":"0000-0001-6731-7238","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":218316,"name":"James Regan","orcid":"0000-0003-0449-2295","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":218333,"name":"Manish C. Choudhary","orcid":"0000-0002-3192-7840","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":620795,"name":"Madeleine D. Burns","orcid":"0000-0003-4850-4446","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":342341,"name":"Nicola Young","orcid":"0000-0002-8449-2027","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":620794,"name":"E Farkas","orcid":"0000-0001-6914-3083","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":620793,"name":"Jameson P. Davis","orcid":"0000-0003-2530-2606","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":646794,"name":"Peter P. Moschovis","orcid":"0000-0002-9664-5959","position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":646795,"name":"T. Bernard Kinane","orcid":"0000-0001-6927-258X","position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":227641,"name":"Alessio Fasano","orcid":"0000-0002-2134-0261","position":10,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":273591,"name":"Anne M. Neilan","orcid":"0000-0001-7915-4974","position":11,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":108340,"name":"Jonathan Z. Li","orcid":"0000-0001-9914-9662","position":12,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":646796,"name":"Amy K. Barczak","orcid":"0000-0003-3806-2381","position":13,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":243044,"name":"Lael M. Yonker","orcid":"0000-0003-1711-8227","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":26,"raw_metadata":{"citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-07-18T23:43:22.562252Z","pmid":"34647601","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}