COVID-19 AND CHILDREN: COMPLICATIONS AND LATE OUTCOMES

Since December 2019, Covid-19 has become a challenge for doctors around the world, including pediatricians. In most infected children, the disease manifests itself in a mild or is char- acterized by a subclinical course. At the same time, in some cases, a severe clinical picture of the so-called late Covid disease may develop, in the form of a multisystem syndrome and other complications. In 2020-2021 at the Academic Pediatric Clinic named after G. Zhvania of Tbilisi State Medical University, we observed 60 children with post-Covid complications and late Covid syn- drome. More than half (32 children - 53.3%) were under 5 years of age, with a predominance of boys (33 children - 55%) who had a Covid-19 infection 1.5-2 months before contacting us with a positive antibody reaction. Most of them (51 children - 85%) were healthy before the disease. Vasculopathy, immune thrombocytopenia, thalassemia minor, primary diabetes, iron deficiency anemia, coagulopathy, pneumonia-atelectasis, exacerbation of the underlying disease - arthralgia, arthritis and abnormal manifestations of sleep disturbance, general weakness and dizziness were noted. Separately, it is necessary to highlight the multisystem inflammatory syndrome in chirdren - MIS-C (8 children - 13%) proceeding with clinical signs of Kawasaki disease (mucocutaneous-lymphatic syndrome) with hectic temperature, polyserositis, hepatosplenomegaly, high rates of inflammation markers, a tendency to hypercoagulability. One patient had a coronary artery aneurysm. In 3 cases, the ANA and ANF titer was increased (up to 1:640) and also with nucleic, cytoplasmic and linear fibrils fluorescence, which indicates immune reactions in Covid infection, which can explain the positive effect of corticosteroid therapy in the treatment of these patients. Only 22 (36%) patients were hospitalized, the rest were observed on an outpatient basis. Based on the aforementioned, it can be concluded that even with the asymptomatic course of Covidinfection in children, complications can be observed and the syndrome of the so-called late Covid, which dictates the need for a thorough examination of these patients and observation in dynamics.