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COVID-19 screening in a Portuguese pediatric population
Adriana Costa1, Helena Almeida2, Marta Moniz2
1Department of Pediatrics, Hospital Prof. Doutor Fernando Fonseca, EPE, Portugal.
Objective:
To assess the characteristics of suspected coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) and the rate of confirmed COVID-19 in a pediatric population at the beginning of the pandemic in Portugal.
Study Design:
Suspected COVID-19 pediatric cases that were tested in a Portuguese hospital between March 17 and April 2 2020 were included in this descriptive retrospective study. The analyzed data included socio-demographic parameters, characteristics of the household, underlying medical conditions and symptoms.
Results:
Ninety-four patients were included and all of them were symptomatic and treated without hospitalization. The most common symptoms were cough (80%;n=75), rhinorrhea (72%;n=68) and fever (60%;n=56). There was only one positive for SARS-CoV-2 in a five-year-old child with mild illness without epidemiologic linkage.
Conclusion:
This study showed a low rate of confirmed COVID-19 in children. The causes for this low rate can be multifactorial and illustrates how differently this virus spreads in the pediatric population.
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