Background: The Global pandemic COVID-19 affects mainly adult population with serious devastating effects in some of them, particularly those with chronic comorbidities. It is less common in children and rare in neonates.
Objectives: The aim of study was to identify the COVID-19 in neonates so that we can give proper emphasis on neonatal COVID-19.
Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted from April 2020 to August 2020 at Dhaka Shishu (Children) Hospital in Bangladesh. Neonates with suspected COVID- 19 were tested for SARS-CoV-2 virus by RT- PCR and positive cases were included in the study. Data were collected and statistical analysis was done by SPSS version 26.
Results: Out of 1714 admitted neonates, 32 (2%) cases were COVID-19 positive. Male were 21(67%) and female were 11 (33%). Majority of the cases (28,88%) were at term. Twelve (38%) cases were from Dhaka and 20 (62%) cases came from outside Dhaka. Only 4(13%) cases were found positive for SARS-CoV-2 virus by RT- PCR within 3 days, among them 2 (6%) cases were within 24 hours of age. Nine cases (28%) were RT-PCR test positive within 4-7 days and 19 cases (59%) were RT-PCR positive within 8-28 days. Most of the cases belonged to neonatal medicine (24,75%) and 8(25%) cases were associated with surgical diseases. Sepsis was present in 17(53%) cases, perinatal asphyxia in 8(25%) and pneumonia in 6(19%) cases. Fourteen cases were discharged after improvement, 12 were referred to COVID-19 designated hospital, 2 cases were transferred to corona unit and 4 cases died.
Conclusion: In this study a good number of neonates were affected with COVID-19. Perinatal asphyxia, sepsis and pneumonia were common association with COVID-19. So for proper management and prevention of transmission of this disease, it should be properly addressed in neonates.
DS (Child) H J 2020; 36(2): 101-106
Background
To delineate the clinico-epidemiological characteristics of pediatric coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) patients was the objective of the study.
Method:
This observational study included 290 pediatric patients with a definite diagnosis of COVID-19 admitted to Dhaka Shishu Hospital, Bangladesh, from April 2021 to October 2021. Clinical and epidemiological characteristics were analyzed based on demographic data, medical history, laboratory tests, and outcome information. Data analysis was performed with SPSS 26. Ethical measures were taken in compliance with the current declaration of Helsinki, and final analysis was performed using SPSS 26.
Result
Of all, 42 (14.5%) were neonates (< 28 days), 88 (30.3%) were infants (28 days to < 1 year) and 160 (55.2%) were children (1–17 years). The median age of the children was 18 (0.3–204) months, 58.3% were male, 62% had malnutrition, and presented with various clinical presentations. The main symptoms were fever (5.7%) and breathlessness (20%). Approximately 22% of children were asymptomatic, and 57% had at least one comorbidity. Fever and abdominal pain were predominant presenting symptoms in children compared with neonates and infants (p < .01 for both), while cough and breathlessness were more frequent in infants (p < .01 for both). The infants suffered significantly from neutropenia and lymphocytosis than neonates and children (p < .001 for both). The discharge and death rates were 77.8% with 6.9%. Overall case fatality was higher among neonates than others.
Conclusion
Compared to other pediatric groups, neonatal case fatality was higher, and COVID-19 in neonates, infants, and children has similar epidemiological and clinical manifestations. The findings from this study might help to guide the development of measures to prevent and treat this ongoing global pandemic of these particular age groups.
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