Zhou B, Yuan Y, Wang S, et al. - Researchers herein performed a meta-analysis on case reports in children with COVID-19, with the aim to determine potential risk factors for severe illness. In addition, they sought to develop a prediction model for risk assessment. Two authors independently completed literature retrieval, case report selection, and data extraction. A total of 52 case reports, including 203 children (96 boys) with COVID-19, were included in this meta-analysis. The risk of severe illness, relative to asymptomatic or mild/moderate illness, was identified to be significantly linked with 11 factors, especially for dyspnea/tachypnea and abnormal chest X-ray, after adjusting for age and gender. They developed a nomogram modeling age, comorbidity, cough, dyspnea or tachypnea, CRP, and LDH, and the C-index reflected that this nomogram exhibits good prediction performance. Systematic evidence was thus gained in this study that comorbidity, cough, dyspnea or tachypnea, CRP, and LDH, both individually and jointly, contribute to the development of severe symptoms in children with asymptomatic or mild/moderate COVID-19.