Epidemiological, Clinical, and Para-clinical Characteristics of 1-6 years Old Children with COVID-19 (Kermanshah, 2020)

The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the epidemiological, clinical,and Para-clinical characteristics of 1-6 years old children with

The present observational study is a cross-sectional correlational work. The participants in this study were 288 children with a definitive diagnosis of COVID-19 admitted to Dr. Mohammad Kermanshahi Referral Hospital. Sampling was done in a non-random way available and clinical and demographic information was collected by examining their clinical files, taking into account the entry criteria (1-6-year-old children with suspected coronavirus hospitalized with a positive RT-PCR test). It was analyzed using SPSS statistical software version 25 and chi-square and Fisher statistical tests.

In total, 63% of the cases were male and 37% were female; 23.8% were in the ICU and 7.5% were connected to a ventilator. In addition, 21.7% had an underlying disease. The mortality rate was 5.3%. The highest clinical demonstrations were fever (74.4%), coughing (33.8%), and diarrhea (21.4%). The laboratory results showed abnormal leukopenia (42.3%), CRP (29.5%), LFT (22.1%), DDIMR (11%), ferritin (10.3%), and ESR (40.6%). In addition, 5.4% of them died so the recovery rate was 94.6%. There was no significant relationship between drug sensitivity and antiviral drug use and mortality due to COVID-19 in children (P >0.05). There was no significant relationship between using antibiotics, ceftriaxone, and azithromycin and mortality due to COVID-19 in children (P >0.05).

Based on the results of this study, a high proportion of children were associated with fever and respiratory symptoms and abnormal para-clinical CT, WBC, and ESR findings. The highest percentage of illness and death due to complications of corona was in the age group of 1-3 years old boys. It seems to reduce their mortality it’s essential to equip and strengthen children's special care departments in the hospital, as well as continuous care and follow-up after discharge and treatment for all sick children with covid-19 in the health department until full recovery is recommended.