Recommendations regarding the admission, infection prevention and control of pediatric patients during coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak in Shanghai China.

Since December 2019, the number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases and severe cases caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in China has been increasing rapidly (1,2). A total of 80,926 confirmed and 349 suspected cases have been reported by March 10, 2020. Epidemiological data showed that all people were susceptible to SARS-CoV-2. Respiratory droplets and close contact are main means of transmission, and aerosol transmission occur in a closed environment exposed to high concentrations of aerosols (3). The clinical symptoms of COVID-19 were atypical (4-6). Provinces and municipalities in China have launched first-level response to this major public health emergency. It has been one month since the lockdown were launched in all cities in Hubei Province. The increasing number of people returning home during the Spring Festival across the country has posed a new challenge to prevention. There are still medical demands for patients due to the diseases other than COVID-19. There is a need to attend to pediatric inpatients by caregivers. Currently, diagnosis of suspected cases is nucleic acid detection, but cannot be used as a universal screening method. COVID-19 symptoms are atypical with infectious possibility during incubation period, it is necessary to inquire about the epidemiological history and related symptoms for the prevention and control of outbreak in children’s hospitals or pediatric wards at general hospitals. In order to prevent the occurrence and spread of COVID-19 infection, Children’s Hospital of Fudan University formulated this expert recommendation, “Recommendations on the admission and management of pediatric patients during COVID-19 outbreak (1st edition)” (referred to as Recommendations). This study is based on a study first published on Chinese Journal of Evidence-based Pediatrics in Chinese (7). We aimed to prevent transmission of COVID-19 infection.