COVID-19 in Children: Clinical Presentations and Outcomes in Fayoum Governorate, Egypt

The number of children with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) significantly increased with limited data available about Egyptian children infected with COVID-19.

The study was performed early in the pandemic to address and record different clinical presentations of COVID-19 in Egyptian children in Fayoum Governorate and determine the percentage of children with complicated COVID-19 infection. The present article describes some epidemiological characteristics, along with the clinical patterns, laboratory and radiological findings, and outcomes of pediatric patients with COVID-19 in Fayoum Governorate.

A total of 200 Egyptian children with COVID-19 in Fayoum Governorate were included in this study. This study was conducted from the beginning of June 2020 to the end of October 2020. In this study, 192 children (96%) had a history of contact with either suspected or confirmed COVID-19 cases in relatives. The age, gender, clinical symptoms, signs, and laboratory results were estimated.

About a tenth of the patients (n = 19; 9.5%) were asymptomatic. Fever and diarrhea were the most common symptoms at presentation, as it was identified in 81 children (40.5%). Lymphopenia was observed in 46.5% of the patients. The majority of the patients with respiratory symptoms had normal findings in chest X-rays (92.5%). Chest opacity was reported in 11 patients (5.5%). According to chest computed tomography, bilateral ground-glass opacity was identified in 16 patients (8.0%). Five hospitalized cases (2.5%) developed severe non-respiratory complications. One death was reported in this study.

The COVID-19 can affect children at any age with variable presentations ranging from asymptomatic to severe symptomatic phenotypes requiring intensive care interventions.