Jessica Lazerov, M.D. is a board-certified pediatrician and fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and has treated at-risk youth in Washington D.C. for over 15 years. She is an Attending Physician at Children’s National Anacostia and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Her passions revolve around reducing health disparities and promoting social and economic justice and believe that one part of the puzzle is through improving care delivery within the health care system, particularly for underserved families and Medicaid recipients. Dr. Lazerov was born in Columbia, MD and received a Bachelor of Science from Syracuse University, with dual majors in Biology and Philosophy. She went on to spend seven years in Baltimore, receiving her medical degree from The University of Maryland School of Medicine and completing her Pediatrics residency at The University of Maryland Medical Center. After residency Dr. Lazerov began practicing in Washington, D.C. at Kaiser Permanente and gained invaluable knowledge about healthcare systems participating in Kaiser’s Physician Innovation Committee, Regional Weight Management Committee, and Community benefit Committee. After 9 years in KP, Dr. Lazerov moved on to Children’s National and has been involved in initiatives related to Telemedicine, advanced call center, and patient portal engagement. Dr. Lazerov is also an MBA candidate at The George Washington School of Business and ultimately hopes to drive innovation in within healthcare. The impact of covid-19 has transcended the way we work; educate our children, our economy, and just how we interact with our family members, friends and peers. But the new normal has created many uncertainties and stress for parents and the ripple effect has been on children. Pediatric cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), have been reported. However, there are relatively fewer cases of COVID-19 among children compared to cases among adult patients. In the United States, 2% of confirmed cases of COVID-19 were among persons aged <18 years. In China, 2.2% of confirmed cases of COVID-19 were among persons aged <19 years old. In Italy, 1.2% of COVID-19 cases were among children aged <18 years. In Spain, 0.8% of confirmed cases of COVID-19 were among persons aged < 18 years. Among cases in children reported from China, most had exposure to household members with confirmed COVID-19.6-10 Based on these early studies, children of all ages are at risk for COVID-19; however, complications of COVID-19 appear to be milder among children compared with adults based on limited reports from China16 and the U.S. In children, SARS-CoV-2 may have more affinity for the upper respiratory tract (including nasopharyngeal carriage) than the lower respiratory tract. As of April 2, 2020, infants aged <1 year accounted for 15% of pediatric COVID-19 cases in the U.S. However, this age group remains underrepresented among COVID-19 cases in patients of all ages (0.3%) compared to their percentage in the U.S. population (1.2%). Relative to adult patients with COVID-19, there were fewer children with COVID-19 requiring hospitalization (6–20%) and ICU admission (0.6–2%). Although severe complications (e.g., acute respiratory distress syndrome, septic shock) have been reported in children of all ages, they appear to be infrequent. Based on limited data on children with either suspected or confirmed infection with SARS-CoV-2, infants (<12 months of age) may be at higher risk of severe or critical disease compared with older children, with hospitalization being most common among children aged <1 year and those with underlying conditions, such as chronic lung disease (including asthma), cardiovascular disease, and immunosuppression. Other reports describe a mild disease course, including in infants.
