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Pediatric Patients with COVID-19: A Retrospective Single-Center Experience
Ayse Sahin1, Nazan Dalgic1, Mesut Sancar2
1Department of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences Turkey, Istanbul, Turkey.
Insights
This study analyzed pediatric COVID-19 cases, finding most had mild illness. However, varied clinical presentations, including appendicitis-like symptoms, highlight the evolving nature of pediatric coronavirus disease 2019.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Infectious Diseases
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Limited data exists on pediatric coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) compared to adults.
- The global impact of COVID-19 necessitates understanding its effects on all age groups, including children.
- Early pandemic data on pediatric COVID-19 is crucial for informing clinical management and public health strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To retrospectively investigate the demographic, clinical, and laboratory features of pediatric patients diagnosed with COVID-19.
- To characterize the initial presentation and disease severity in children during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- To identify common symptoms and treatment approaches in pediatric COVID-19 cases.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of electronic medical records for 190 pediatric patients (1 month-18 years) with confirmed or probable COVID-19.
- Inclusion criteria: definite/probable COVID-19 diagnosis treated at the Pediatric Infection Clinic.
- Data collected included demographics, clinical signs, symptoms, laboratory findings, and treatment modalities.
Main Results:
- Of 190 pediatric patients, 42.1% had laboratory-confirmed COVID-19. Mean age was 72 months; 53.7% were female.
- The majority of cases were mild (73.2%) or moderate (18.4%), with few severe/critical cases (2.6%). Common symptoms included cough (71.1%) and fever (51.1%).
- Family contact was a significant transmission route (60.5%). Hydroxychloroquine was a frequently used treatment, alone or in combination.
Conclusions:
- Pediatric COVID-19 cases predominantly presented with mild clinical courses.
- The study identified diverse clinical manifestations, including presentations mimicking acute appendicitis, underscoring the variability of COVID-19 in children.
- COVID-19 in children presents evolving clinical pictures and treatment considerations, such as multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C).
Objectives:
The pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is still effective all over the world. Compared to adults, data on pediatric patients are limited. In this study, we aimed to retrospectively examine the demographic, clinical, and laboratory characteristics of pediatric patients who were followed up with the diagnosis of COVID-19 in the first 3 months of the pandemic in our hospital.
Methods:
A total of 190 patients, aged 1 month-18 years, who were followed up with a definite/probable diagnosis of COVID-19, who were treated in the Pediatric Infection Clinic, were included in the study. The demographic features, clinical characteristics, and laboratory findings of the patients were retrospectively analyzed from their electronic medical records.
Results:
Eighty (42.1%) of the patients were laboratory confirmed (Polymerase chain reaction positive in nasopharyngeal swab). Mean age was 72 (2-216 months) and 102 (53.7%) patients were female. Family contact history was present in 115 (60.5%) patients. The patients were classified as asymptomatic (5.8%), mild (73.2%), moderate (18.4%), and severe/critical (2.6%) according to the severity of the disease. The most common symptoms were cough (71.1%) and fever (51.1%). Hydroxychloroquine alone or in combination was the most commonly used agent.
Conclusion:
In our study, in which we examined the pediatric COVID-19 patients, most of the patients had a mild clinical course, but there were applications with different clinical pictures such as acute appendicitis. Therefore, COVID-19 infection, which is still very unknown, will continue to surprise us with both changing treatment protocols and clinical presentations such as multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children.
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