Clinical characteristics and outcomes of children with COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the demographic and clinical characteristics, underlying comorbidities, and outcomes of children with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. Methods: In this retrospective study, we reported 62 pediatric patients (age <14 years) with confirmed COVID-19 between March 2 and July 1, 2020, at King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Results: Comorbid conditions, including cardiac, neurological, respiratory, and malignant disorders, were reported in 9 patients (14.5%). The most prominent presenting complaints were fever (80.6%) and cough (48.4%). Most of our patients (80.6%) had mild disease, 11.3% had moderate disease, and 8.1% exhibited severe and critical illness. Twenty-one patients (33.9%) were hospitalized, with 4 patients (6.5%) admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit, and 3 (4.8%) patients died. Conclusion: All pediatric age groups are susceptible to COVID-19, with no gender difference. COVID-19 infection may result in critical illness and even mortality in subsets of pediatric patients.

Clinical and Laboratory Features of PCR-Confirmed and Clinically Suspected COVID-19 Pediatric Patients: A Single Hospital-Based Experience During the First COVID-19 Wave in the United Arab Emirates

“…The overall neutrophil count was slightly elevated and more pronounced in the clinically suspected group compared to the confirmed group. These findings were consistent with other reports ( 21 , 22 , 27 , 28 ) but in contrast to Elghoudi et al who noted a high prevalence of neutropenia and thrombocytopenia in their studied population ( 16 ). The mean concentration of CRP (higher in the clinically suspected group) supported previous reports ( 22 , 29 , 30 ).…”

“…However, the reason of the observed high proportion of moderate to severe cases in our study is unclear, this could be related to the disease activity and viral load, but we cannot rule out the potential bias in that our facility is a tertiary hospital and most of our children were admitted in a moderate to severe condition. Fortunately, none of our patients required critical care management which confirmed similar studies reporting a low rate of intensive care admission ( 12 , 16 , 22 ), where only one child was admitted to the PICU with a case of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MISC) with Kawasaki-like features but with a positive RT-PCR test. Most of our children with lower respiratory tract infection required oxygen support but none of them suffered from acute respiratory distress syndrome reported in other studies ( 12 , 27 ), or needed ventilatory support.…”

Worldwide epidemiology of neuro-coronavirus disease in children: lessons for the next pandemic

“…In the broader published pediatric literature, neurological manifestations such as smell/taste disorders, headache, seizures, and stroke appear to predominate in acute COVID-19, whereas headache, encephalopathy, and MRI changes suggesting neuroinflammation predominate in MIS-C. Examples of neurological manifestations in children reported to date are summarized by clinical phenotype in Table 1 [ 60 , 61 , 62 ▪▪ , 63 ▪ , 64 , 65 ▪ , 66 , 67 ▪ , 68 – 75 , 76 ▪ , 77 , 78 ▪ , 79 , 80 ▪▪ ]. As these studies represent different pediatric cohorts (e.g.…”

Clinical profile, risk factors and outcomes of pediatric COVID-19: a retrospective cohort multicentre study in Saudi Arabia

“…Although there are numerous reports about the epidemiology, clinical presentation, laboratory and radiological findings, and outcomes of COVID-19, most are primarily based on adult populations, with variable focus on the paediatric age group. Paediatric reports on COVID-19 among Saudi population were limited by a cross-sectional design accompanied by a single-centre setting or a small sample size 11–13 18–21. Accordingly, their findings cannot be generalised to the paediatric COVID-19 patient population.…”