Clinical Characteristics of Children With SARS-CoV-2 Infection in a Hospital in Latin America

Abstract

Objective:COVID-19 infections have shown a different behavior in children than in adults. The objective of this study was to describe the clinical characteristics and severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection in pediatric patients seen at a reference hospital in Colombia.MethodA descriptive, observational study in patients under the age of 18 years with a positive test for SARS-CoV-2 infection (RT-PCR or antigen) between April 2020 and March 2021. Multiple variables were studied, including demographic data, clinical characteristics, lab measurements, treatments administered, intensive care unit admission, and mortality.ResultsA total of 361 patients were included of whom 196 (54%) were males. The median age was 3 years. Of all the patients, 65 (18%) were asymptomatic. The majority of patients had no comorbidities (n = 225, 76%). In those who were symptomatic (n = 296, 82%), the most frequent complaints were fever (n = 178, 60%), nasal congestion (n = 164, 55%) and cough (n = 149, 50%). Chest x-rays were normal in 73 patients (50%). When abnormalities were found, interstitial (29%) and alveolar (12%) patterns were the most prevalent. One hundred and fifty-seven children (53%) required general ward hospitalization, and 24 patients (8%) required pediatric intensive care admission. The global mortality was 0.8% (3 patients).ConclusionsThe majority of cases were asymptomatic or mild. However, a significant percentage of patients required general ward admission, and some even required intensive care. The main symptom of COVID-19 infections in newborns was apnea. A second COVID-19 RT-PCR may be necessary to detect infections in critically ill patients with a high clinical suspicion of the disease if an initial test was negative.

Clinical characteristics of pediatric patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection who followed rigorous measures during two years of the COVID-19 pandemic in a hospital in Mexico

“…The population in this study demonstrated confirmed COVID-19 cases being slightly higher in males (51.4%), similar to other studies such as Martínez-García et al (59.3%), Olivar-López et al (53%), Nachega et al (52.4%), Aragón-Nogales et al (55.2%), Niño-Serna et al (54%) ( 23 – 27 ). Contrary to what was described in the literature, we found scholars as the most infected group.…”

“…Contrary to what was described in the literature, we found scholars as the most infected group. A few studies proved that children older than twelve years had a higher frequency of testing positive for COVID-19 ( 13 , 15 , 27 ). Martínez-García et al reported infants under five years with a more extensive distribution among all infected groups ( 23 ).…”

Pediatric COVID-19 in Argentina: a comprehensive analysis of disease and economic burden through official data and a systematic literature review

“…However, acute severe and critical cases and severe complications related to COVID-19 infection, MIS-C were reported with high impact in the pediatric population in our study, similarly reported in other countries ( 35 ). Pediatric studies show that patients with comorbidities have more risk of severe disease; we found underlying diseases in 28%, as reported by Niño and cols ( 36 ). Other pediatric series from Latin America and other countries showed similar data ( 37 ).…”

Respiratory illness of unknown cause as an early signal of the COVID-19 pandemic

“…We also identified a report of a severe pneumonia case in a 63year-old man on 22-Nov-2019 from Xiangyang, Hubei, who was medically evacuated to Wuhan. The data identified schools as the most common outbreak setting, which suggests other respiratory viruses in these cases, as children generally experience milder COVID-19 illness compared to adults, though moderate or severe COVID-19 disease and school outbreaks can still occur in children [33][34][35][36][37]. These cases could also reflect lack of testing for known pathogens.…”