The Impact of Alpha Variant (B.1.1.7), Viral Load, and Age on the Clinical Course of Pediatric COVID-19 Patients

Objective The research on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) mainly consists of adult patients, leaving its impact on children understudied. This study aims to investigate the correlations between viral load, clinical course, age, and Alpha variant (B.1.1.7) in children. Methods The study was conducted on children under the age of 18 years, who were admitted to Amasya University Sabuncuoglu Serefeddin Research and Training Hospital in Turkey between February and April 2021. Delta Ct values, which were obtained by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), were analyzed to estimate the viral loads of the patients. Alpha variant (B.1.1.7) positivity was determined by real-time PCR. Results There was no difference between estimated viral loads of different clinical courses (p > 0.05), or between asymptomatic and symptomatic patients (p > 0.05). Viral loads were found to decrease with increasing age (p = 0 .002). Also, a higher rate of symptomatic disease was found in children under the age of 4 years (p < 0.05). Alpha variant (B.1.1.7) was not found to be associated with severe disease in children (p > 0.05). Conclusion Our results demonstrate higher viral loads and symptomatic disease in children under the age of 4 years. Alpha variant (B.1.1.7) was not found to be related to disease severity. There has not been a consensus on the vaccination of the pediatric population worldwide. More studies are needed to understand the viral kinetics of SARS-CoV-2 and its severity on children to build effective vaccination strategies in children as public health restrictions are eased.