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Difference in Clinical Patterns between COVID-19 Affected Children and Adults
1Dr Ferdousi Hasnat, Assistant Professor (Paediatrics), Kurmitola General Hospital, Dhaka Cantonment, Bangladesh;
Insights
Children infected with coronavirus (COVID-19) experience milder symptoms and fewer severe cases compared to adults. This study highlights significant differences in clinical presentation and laboratory findings between pediatric and adult COVID-19 patients.
Area of Science:
- Infectious Diseases
- Pediatrics
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) emerged as a global health crisis in December 2019.
- While all age groups are affected, initial observations suggested milder disease in children.
- Understanding clinical differences between pediatric and adult COVID-19 cases is crucial for effective management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the clinical patterns and laboratory findings of COVID-19 in children and adults.
- To identify key differences in disease severity and symptom presentation between pediatric and adult populations.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional prospective study conducted at Kurmitola General Hospital, Dhaka, from April to September 2020.
- 150 COVID-19 positive patients (50 children aged 1-18 years, 100 adults >18 years) were enrolled.
- Clinical symptoms, laboratory results, and chest X-ray findings were analyzed and compared between the two groups.
Main Results:
- Fever and cough were common in both groups, but fever was significantly more prevalent in adults (81%) than children (36%).
- No severe or critical cases were observed in children; most presented with mild (68%) or moderate (24%) illness.
- Adults exhibited a higher incidence of moderate (72%), severe (14%), and critical (5%) cases, along with more frequent leukopenia, lymphopenia, elevated CRP, and ferritin levels. Pneumonia was also more common in adults (83%) than children (42%).
Conclusions:
- Coronavirus affects children, but their clinical presentation is generally milder than in adults.
- Significant differences exist in symptom prevalence, disease severity, laboratory findings, and radiographic evidence of pneumonia between pediatric and adult COVID-19 patients.
- These findings underscore the need for age-specific considerations in the diagnosis and management of COVID-19.
Abstract:
Coronavirus has created a major global health problem since December 2019. People of all age groups were affected by this virus though children showed milder clinical characteristics and initially less number of children was affected by this virus. It is very important to know the difference in clinical patterns between COVID-19 affected children and adults. This cross-sectional prospective study was carried out in Kurmitola General Hospital, Dhaka from April to September 2020 to compare the clinical pattern and laboratory findings between COVID-19 positive children and adults. Total 150 COVID-19 positive patients were enrolled in this study, among them 100 patients were adults (>18 year) mean±SD age (49.9±14.33) and 50 patients were children (Day 1-18 year) mean±SD age (8.7±4.79). The adult group had 66 males and 34 females and the pediatric group had 27 males and 23 females. No significant sex difference was seen between the two groups (0.153). Most of the children were affected by family contact and they showed a mild type of illness but adult patients had contact from different sources. Fever and cough were the main symptoms of both groups but fever was more common in adults (81%) than children (36%), p-value (0.001). In children no severe or critical cases were found. But asymptomatic cases were 8%, mild cases (68%) and moderate cases (24%) in children. In adults no asymptomatic patients were found. Moderate cases were 72%, severe 14% and critical 5% (p value 0.001). Leucopenia, Lymphopenia and raised CRP and increased ferritin were found more in adults than children. Chest X-ray showed 42% of children had pneumonia and 83% adults had pneumonia. There was significant difference between the two groups (p value 0.0001). This study concludes that corona virus affects children like adults but their presentation is not so severe and children show mild clinical symptoms in comparison with adults.
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