Abstract
Background
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) presents in children usually with less severe manifestations than in adults. Although fever and cough were reported as the most common symptoms, children can have non-specific symptoms. We describe an infant with aplastic anemia as the main manifestation.
Case presentation
We describe a case of SARS-CoV-2 infection in an infant without any respiratory symptoms or signs while manifesting principally with pallor and purpura. Pancytopenia with reticulocytopenia was the predominant feature in the initial laboratory investigations, pointing to aplastic anemia. Chest computed tomography surprisingly showed typical findings suggestive of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Infection was later confirmed by positive real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assay (RT-PCR) for SARS-CoV-2.
Conclusions
Infants with COVID-19 can have non-specific manifestations and a high index of suspicion should be kept in mind especially in regions with a high incidence of the disease. Chest computed tomography (CT) and testing for SARS-CoV-2 infection by RT-PCR may be considered even in the absence of respiratory manifestations.
A positive real lemma for singular hybrid systems