Evaluation of Clinical and Laboratory Findings in Hospitalized Children With SARS-CoV-2 Infection

 There are a few studies on the laboratory and clinical results of COVID-19 in pediatric patients.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the laboratory and clinical findings of children who were hospitalized due to infection with COVID-19.

 This case-series study was conducted from May 1, 2020 to July 30, 2022 and evaluated hospitalized patients up to the age of 18 years old who were admitted with the diagnosis of COVID-19 infection in the endemic period of SARS-CoV-2 at Imam Ali hospital in Karaj. The required data were collected from medical records, including medical history, demographic information, SARS-CoV-2 symptoms, physical examination, laboratory test results, comorbidities, severity the of disease, and mortality rate. After obtaining the data, SPSS-26 was used to perform statistical analysis.

 This study included 96 confirmed COVID-19 cases (42 females and 54 males), and the mean age of patients was 7.2 years. COVID-19 comorbidities were positive in 22 cases (22.9%), and diabetes was the most common comorbidity, which was detected in 13 cases (13.5%). Twelve (12.5%) cases of COVID-19 exhibited critical severity, and the mortality rate was 5.2%. The four most frequent clinical symptoms were found to be fever, cough, dyspnea, and vomiting, which were noted in 82 (85.4%), 52 (54.2%), 29 (30.2%), and 29 (30.2%) cases, respectively. In addition, respiratory distress and cyanosis were observed in 20 (20.8%) and 6 (6.3%) patients, respectively. Moreover, 18 (18.8%) cases had allergies, and skin allergies were the most prevalent, followed by allergic rhinitis and exercise-induced cough.

 This case series survey addressed the laboratory and clinical features of pediatric SARS-CoV-2 patients. Despite the relatively small number of samples, the findings could provide a useful report of the clinical manifestations and paraclinical findings of COVID-19 in children.