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Comparing clinical presentation, viremia, and immunological factors at various severity presentations in hospitalized
Marzieh Jamalidoust1, Seyedeh Sedigheh Hamzavi2,3, Eslam Shorafa4
1Department of Virology, Professor Alborzi Clinical Microbiology Research Center, Namazi Hospital Shiraz University of Medical Sciences Shiraz Iran.
Insights
COVID-19 severity varies in children, with some clinical and lab differences noted. However, SARS-CoV-2 viremia was not linked to disease severity in this pediatric study.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric infectious diseases
- Virology
- Immunology
Background:
- COVID-19 can cause severe illness in children, particularly those with pre-existing conditions.
- Factors influencing pediatric COVID-19 severity are less understood than in adults.
- The role of SARS-CoV-2 viremia in pediatric disease progression requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To prospectively evaluate the association between disease severity and immunological factors and viremia in hospitalized children with COVID-19.
- To identify clinical and laboratory markers that may predict severe COVID-19 outcomes in pediatric patients.
Main Methods:
- Prospective assessment of 47 hospitalized children diagnosed with COVID-19.
- Analysis of clinical symptoms, underlying diseases, and laboratory parameters.
- Evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 viremia and its correlation with disease severity.
Main Results:
- A significant proportion of children (23.5%) experienced severe or critical COVID-19.
- Underlying diseases, vomiting, chest pain, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate differed significantly across severity groups.
- SARS-CoV-2 viremia was detected in only two children and showed no significant association with COVID-19 severity.
Conclusions:
- COVID-19 severity exhibits variability among infected children.
- Certain clinical presentations and laboratory findings are associated with different COVID-19 severity levels in pediatrics.
- Viremia does not appear to be a significant predictor of COVID-19 severity in the studied pediatric population.
Background And Aims:
Although SARS-CoV-2 infection usually leads to mild COVID-19 in children, sometimes it causes serious complications, especially in those with underlying diseases. Several factors have been identified in determining disease severity in adults, and limited studies have been conducted in children. The prognostic implications of SARS-CoV-2 RNaemia as an important factor in determining disease severity in children are not well understood.
Methods:
In this study, we aimed to prospectively assess the relationship between disease severity and immunological factors and viremia in 47 COVID-19 hospitalized children. In this research, 76.5% of children experienced mild and moderate COVID-19, while 23.5% experienced severe and critical forms of the disease.
Results:
The presence of underlying diseases in different groups of pediatric patients differed significantly from each other. On the other hand, clinical symptoms such as vomiting and chest pain as well as laboratory parameters including erythrocyte sedimentation rate were significantly different in different groups of patients. Viremia was seen in only two children, and this had no significant relationship with the severity of COVID-19.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, our data confirmed that COVID-19 severity differed in SARS-CoV-2 infected children. Some clinical presentation and lab data parameters were different in various presentation of patients. Viremia was not associated with severity in our study.
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