Clinical Characteristics, Laboratory Findings, Management, and Outcome of Severe Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Children at a Tertiary Care Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: A Retrospective Study

Frontiers in Pediatrics

article

Tariq AlFawaz¹  Egab AlDosari¹  Laila Al-Awdah¹  Mohammed AlShehri¹  Yara AlGoraini¹  AbdulAziz AlMayouf¹  Dayel AlShahrani¹  Salwan AlGhain²  Sarah AlFaraj³  Yara Bashawri¹ 

[1] King Fahd Medical City;King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre;Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz Hospital

关键词: COVID-19;    characteristics;    management;    outcome;    children;    coronavirus disease;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fped.2022.865441

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Background Numerous studies worldwide have reported COVID-19 in children; however, the clinical symptoms and consequences of COVID-19 in children have only been reported in a few studies in Saudi and gulf region. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the clinical features and outcomes of COVID-19 infection in children and the therapeutic interventions used. Methods This retrospective cohort study included 96 patients with confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection aged ≤14 years who were admitted to a tertiary governmental care hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between March 2020 and November 2020. Data on children with COVID-19, including demographics, comorbidities, symptoms, imaging and laboratory results, therapies, and clinical outcomes, were analyzed. Results Of 96 children admitted with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19, 63.8% were aged ≤ 3 years, 52.1% were male, 56.2% had an unknown source of infection, and 51% had no comorbidities. Most cases had severe infection (71.88%) as they required oxygen, 10.42% of whom were critical. The most common symptoms were respiratory-related (98%), and the common physical sign was fever (49%). High D-dimer (90.7%) and C-reactive protein (72.09%) levels were found in most cases. Oxygen (71.88%) was the most commonly used treatment. Most patients were discharged home and fully recovered (97.92%). We reported two deaths (2.08%). Conclusions Our findings showed that the majority of the admitted children with COVID-19 were ≤3 years of age (52.1%) and infected with an unknown source (56.2%). Moreover, the majority of the cases had severe COVID-19 infection as they required oxygen (71.88%), although they had favorable outcomes. However, some cases were critical and resulted in death. Future studies will be crucial to better understand the disease spectrum and potential therapeutic options for COVID-19 in children.

【 授权许可】

CC BY