INTRODUCTION
Since emerging in November 2019,
the severe acute respiratory
syndrome coronavirus 2
(SARS-Cov-2) has rapidly spread
worldwide, causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Although
patients of all ages are affected, the illness among children and
adolescents is generally milder compared to adults, with up to 66%
being asymptomatic 1. Unlike children and adolescents,
the majority of infants have been reported to be symptomatic, with
fever, upper respiratory symptoms, and decreased oral intake being the
most common clinical features 2.
While the acute-phase illness of SARS-CoV-2 is well established,
understanding its long-term consequence and its effect on chronic lung
morbidity is still evolving. Previous studies have evaluated pulmonary
function tests (PFT) in patients post SARS-Cov-2 infection to
objectively assess the long-term respiratory influence of the virus. In
adults, a reduction in diffusion capacity was the main finding,
significantly correlated to the severity of the acute illness3–5. Only a limited number of studies evaluated PFT
in pediatric patients following a SARS-Cov-2 infection. Unlike in
adults, these studies did not identify any abnormality in expiratory
flows, lung volumes or diffusion capacity 6–9.
To our knowledge, despite significant respiratory COVID-19-symptoms
reported in infants, no study has explored PFT in this age group,
following an infection. The aim of this study was to assess whether
SARS-Cov-2 infection has long term effects on pulmonary functions in
infants.