International Journal of Infectious Diseases (Sep 2023)

Severe coronavirus disease 2019 in pediatric solid organ transplant recipients: Big data convergence study in Korea (K-COV-N cohort)

  • Ji-Man Kang,
  • Minsun Kang,
  • Young-Eun Kim,
  • Yoonkyung Choi,
  • Soo Jeong An,
  • Jaehyun Seong,
  • Min Jin Go,
  • Kyungmin Huh,
  • Jaehun Jung

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 134
pp. 220 – 227

Abstract

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Objectives: The risk of severe COVID-19 in children with a solid organ transplant (SOT) is not well established. We compare the relative risk of severe COVID-19 infection between pediatric SOT and non-SOT children. Methods: The newly constructed K-COV-N cohort (Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency-COVID-19-National Health Insurance Service) was used. Children with COVID-19 (<18 years old) who underwent SOT between January 2008 to January 2022 were included. Non-SOT children with COVID-19 were selected in a ratio of 1:4 using propensity score matching. Three definitions of severe COVID-19 were established based on their requirement for respiratory support: severe I (requiring respiratory support above a high-flow nasal cannula or prolonged hospitalization ≥6 days), severe II (requiring any oxygen supplement), and severe III (requiring any oxygen supplement or prolonged hospitalization ≥6 days). Results: Among 2,957,323 children with COVID-19, 206 pediatric SOT recipients (SOTRs) were identified and included in the analysis along with 803 matched non-SOT children. Most infections (96.6%) occurred during the Omicron period; no cases of mortality were reported. Pediatric SOTR had a 3.6-fold (95% confidence interval = 1.1-11.7, P = 0.03) higher risk of severe I, and a 4.9-fold (95% confidence interval = 1.6-15.0, P = 0.006) higher risk of severe III than non-SOT children. No cases of severe II occurred in the non-SOT children. Although not statistically significant, no severe COVID-19 cases were reported in the vaccinated SOT group (0.0% vs 5.7%, P = 0.09 in severe III). Conclusion: Pediatric SOTRs have a significantly higher risk of severe COVID-19 than non-SOT children. Our findings support the need for tailored strategies for these high-risk children.

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