J Korean Med Sci.  2021 Feb;36(5):e45. 10.3346/jkms.2021.36.e45.

Limited Benefit of Facility Isolation and the Rationale for Home Care in Children with Mild COVID-19

• Yun KW
• Kim KM
• Kim YK
• Kim MS
• Kwon H
• Han MS
• Lee H
• Choi EH

• KMID: 2512467
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2021.36.e45

Abstract

Considering the mild degree of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in children and the enormous stress caused by isolation in unfamiliar places, policies requiring mandatory isolation at medical facilities should be reevaluated especially given the impact of the pandemic on the availability of hospital beds. In this study, we assessed the usefulness of facility isolation and the transmissibility of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 by infected children to uninfected caregivers in isolation units at a hospital and a residential treatment center in Seoul during August-November 2020. Fifty-three children were included and median age was 4 years (range, 0–18). All were mildly ill or asymptomatic and isolated for a median duration of 12 days. Thirty percent stayed home longer than 2 days before entering isolation units from symptom onset. Among 15 uninfected caregivers, none became infected when they used facemasks and practiced hand hygiene. The results suggest children with mild COVID-19 may be cared safely at home by a caregiver in conditions with adherence to the preventive measures of wearing facemasks and practicing hand hygiene.

Keyword

COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Children; Isolation

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Relation between symptom presence and entering the isolation units in children with COVID-19. (A) BMC and (B) the Nowon RTC. Of the 53 children, 12 (23%) were asymptomatic until the end of isolation. The median time from symptom onset to facility isolation was 1 day at BMC and 3 days at RTC. The symptomatic children's total number of days with illness was 144 days and approximately 76% (109 days) were experienced before entering the isolation unit (Dark colors, the symptomatic period; light colors, the asymptomatic period; and red dots, the date of diagnosis).COVID-19 = coronavirus disease 2019, BMC = Seoul Metropolitan Government-Seoul National University Boramae Medical Center, RTC = residential treatment center.

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