Pediatric COVID-19: clinical and epidemiological data of 1303 cases in a general hospital in Brazil
ABSTRACT Objective: This study aimed to describe the clinical characteristics of the pediatric population with COVID-19 in an Emergency Department (ED) of a Brazilian general hospital. Methods: Epidemiological and clinical data of patients younger than 20 years old were collected from patients’ me...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Sociedade de Pediatria de São Paulo
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Revista Paulista de Pediatria |
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| Online Access: | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0103-05822024000100439&tlng=en |
| _version_ | 1797375607266344960 |
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| author | Vera Bain Marcelo Luiz Abramczyk Ricardo Luiz Soares Costa Milena Ribeiro Paixão José Leão de Souza Junior |
| author_facet | Vera Bain Marcelo Luiz Abramczyk Ricardo Luiz Soares Costa Milena Ribeiro Paixão José Leão de Souza Junior |
| author_sort | Vera Bain |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT Objective: This study aimed to describe the clinical characteristics of the pediatric population with COVID-19 in an Emergency Department (ED) of a Brazilian general hospital. Methods: Epidemiological and clinical data of patients younger than 20 years old were collected from patients’ medical records from February 2020 to July 2021. Most of the epidemiological data described pertains to hospitalized patients. We also reviewed coinfections, treatment, and outcomes and compared the first and second waves of COVID-19. Results: We identified a total of 1303 episodes of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The median time from symptom onset to diagnosis was three days. Symptoms were present in 92.3% of the patients. The most common symptoms were fever (45.2%), nasal congestion/discharge (44.2%), and cough (39.4%). Chest radiography and tomography were performed in 7.7 and 3.3% of cases, with abnormal findings in 29.7 and 53.4%, respectively. Hospital admissions occurred in 3.5% of patients, mainly in the presence of comorbidities, in children under five years old and in those who presented to the ED during the first wave of COVID-19. Coinfection with a viral agent was identified in 20% of the 71 cases tested in this study, and a positive rapid test for Streptococcus pyogenes was found in 8% of the 174 cases tested, with no impact of these coinfections on hospitalization. Conclusions: We found that COVID-19 was a mild disease in most children in our study population, with most hospitalizations and readmissions occurring during the first wave of COVID-19. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T19:26:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c4c6d6ec3474424fa7ee9ac548cb2387 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1984-0462 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T19:26:51Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Sociedade de Pediatria de São Paulo |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revista Paulista de Pediatria |
| spelling | doaj.art-c4c6d6ec3474424fa7ee9ac548cb23872023-12-26T08:32:16ZengSociedade de Pediatria de São PauloRevista Paulista de Pediatria1984-04622023-12-014210.1590/1984-0462/2024/42/2023031Pediatric COVID-19: clinical and epidemiological data of 1303 cases in a general hospital in BrazilVera Bainhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5290-6897Marcelo Luiz Abramczykhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-7787-3887Ricardo Luiz Soares Costahttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1159-8066Milena Ribeiro Paixãohttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1565-3915José Leão de Souza Juniorhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6017-7682ABSTRACT Objective: This study aimed to describe the clinical characteristics of the pediatric population with COVID-19 in an Emergency Department (ED) of a Brazilian general hospital. Methods: Epidemiological and clinical data of patients younger than 20 years old were collected from patients’ medical records from February 2020 to July 2021. Most of the epidemiological data described pertains to hospitalized patients. We also reviewed coinfections, treatment, and outcomes and compared the first and second waves of COVID-19. Results: We identified a total of 1303 episodes of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The median time from symptom onset to diagnosis was three days. Symptoms were present in 92.3% of the patients. The most common symptoms were fever (45.2%), nasal congestion/discharge (44.2%), and cough (39.4%). Chest radiography and tomography were performed in 7.7 and 3.3% of cases, with abnormal findings in 29.7 and 53.4%, respectively. Hospital admissions occurred in 3.5% of patients, mainly in the presence of comorbidities, in children under five years old and in those who presented to the ED during the first wave of COVID-19. Coinfection with a viral agent was identified in 20% of the 71 cases tested in this study, and a positive rapid test for Streptococcus pyogenes was found in 8% of the 174 cases tested, with no impact of these coinfections on hospitalization. Conclusions: We found that COVID-19 was a mild disease in most children in our study population, with most hospitalizations and readmissions occurring during the first wave of COVID-19.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0103-05822024000100439&tlng=enCOVID-19SARS-CoV-2ChildAdolescents |
| spellingShingle | Vera Bain Marcelo Luiz Abramczyk Ricardo Luiz Soares Costa Milena Ribeiro Paixão José Leão de Souza Junior Pediatric COVID-19: clinical and epidemiological data of 1303 cases in a general hospital in Brazil Revista Paulista de Pediatria COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 Child Adolescents |
| title | Pediatric COVID-19: clinical and epidemiological data of 1303 cases in a general hospital in Brazil |
| title_full | Pediatric COVID-19: clinical and epidemiological data of 1303 cases in a general hospital in Brazil |
| title_fullStr | Pediatric COVID-19: clinical and epidemiological data of 1303 cases in a general hospital in Brazil |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pediatric COVID-19: clinical and epidemiological data of 1303 cases in a general hospital in Brazil |
| title_short | Pediatric COVID-19: clinical and epidemiological data of 1303 cases in a general hospital in Brazil |
| title_sort | pediatric covid 19 clinical and epidemiological data of 1303 cases in a general hospital in brazil |
| topic | COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 Child Adolescents |
| url | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0103-05822024000100439&tlng=en |
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