Case Report
Down Syndrome patients with COVID-19 pneumonia: A high-risk category for unfavourable outcome

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2020.11.188Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Pro-inflammatory factors play a central role in COVID-19 severity and mortality.

  • Down Syndrome is characterised by immune dysregulation and respiratory infections.

  • Down Syndrome patients with COVID-19 are at high risk of an unfavourable outcome.

Abstract

We report two cases of Corona Virus Disease-19 (COVID-19) in patients with Down Syndrome (DS) and describe the identification, diagnosis, clinical course and management of the infection. Down Syndrome, which is caused by trisomy 21, is characterized by immune dysregulation, anatomical differences in the upper respiratory tract and higher rate of comorbidities. All these risk factors can contribute to more severe clinical presentations of COVID-19 in this population. It is essential to raise awareness of the clinical relevance of SARS-COV-2 infection in DS patients, as well as in other most vulnerable patients, in order to improve their management and treatment and to encourage vaccinating these individuals early, once a vaccination is available.

Keywords

COVID-19 pneumonia
Down syndrome
Immune dysregulation
Immune activation

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COVID-19 INMI Study Group: Maria Alessandra Abbonizio, Chiara Agrati, Fabrizio Albarello, Gioia Amadei, Alessandra Amendola, Mario Antonini, Raffaella Barbaro, Barbara Bartolini, Martina Benigni, Nazario Bevilacqua, Licia Bordi, Veronica Bordoni, Marta Branca, Paolo Campioni, Maria Rosaria Capobianchi, Cinzia Caporale, Ilaria Caravella, Fabrizio Carletti, Concetta Castilletti, Roberta Chiappini, Carmine Ciaralli, Francesca Colavita, Angela Corpolongo, Massimo Cristofaro, Salvatore Curiale, Alessandra D’Abramo, Cristina Dantimi, Alessia De Angelis, Giada De Angelis, Rachele Di Lorenzo, Federica Di Stefano, Federica Ferraro, Lorena Fiorentini, Andrea Frustaci, Paola Gallì, Gabriele Garotto, Maria Letizia Giancola, Filippo Giansante, Emanuela Giombini, Maria Cristina Greci, Giuseppe Ippolito, Eleonora Lalle, Simone Lanini, Daniele Lapa, Luciana Lepore, Andrea Lucia, Franco Lufrani, Manuela Macchione, Alessandra Marani, Luisa Marchioni, Andrea Mariano, Maria Cristina Marini, Micaela Maritti, Giulia Matusali, Silvia Meschi, Francesco Messina Chiara Montaldo, Silvia Murachelli, Emanuele Nicastri, Roberto Noto, Claudia Palazzolo, Emanuele Pallini, Virgilio Passeri, Federico Pelliccioni, Antonella Petrecchia, Ada Petrone, Nicola Petrosillo, Elisa Pianura, Maria Pisciotta, Silvia Pittalis, Costanza Proietti, Vincenzo Puro, Gabriele Rinonapoli, Martina Rueca, Alessandra Sacchi, Francesco Sanasi, Carmen Santagata, Silvana Scarcia, Vincenzo Schininà, Paola Scognamiglio, Laura Scorzolini, Giulia Stazi, Francesco Vaia, Francesco Vairo, Maria Beatrice Valli.