Clinical analysis and early differential diagnosis of suspected pediatric patients with 2019 novel coronavirus infection

A retrospective analysis was performed.39 (50.6%) of 77 suspected cases were comfirmed, 4 (5.2%) of them had viral coinfection.Compared with non-2019-nCoV group(n=33),2019-nCoV confirmed group (n=39) had fewer fever and symptoms of acute respiratory infection (ARI), more asymptomatic and more family cluster infections. While computed tomography (CT) had more positive findings of viral pneumonia. Age and gender were insignificant.PCT (0.05[0.029-0.076] vs 0.103[0.053-0.21];P<.001) of 2019-nCoV alone group (n=35) was significantly reduced.While compared with coinfection group (n=4),PCT (0.05[0.029-0.076] vs 0.144[0.109-2.26];P=.003) was also statistically reduced.The area under curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) of overall model is 0.817 ([95%CI] [0.719-0.916];P<.001).The AUC of PCT is 0.792 ([0.688-0.896];P<.001). The cut-off value is 0.1 ng/mL. Asymptoms or mild symptoms,positive CT findings and family cluster infection are the main clinical features of pediatric 2019-nCoV infection.With moderate efficacy,PCT can provide an important basis for differentiating 2019-nCoV alone and other viral infection or viral coinfection. Keywords: 2019 novel coronavirus;procalcitonin; pediatric;differential diagnosis;suspected infection