Characteristics of pediatric COVID‑19 patients admitted to the emergency department and factors associated with pneumonia
Ali Yurtseven1
, Caner Turan1, Gizem Güner Özenen2, Halit Işik1, Zümrüt Şahbudak Bal2, Rüçhan Sertöz3, Eylem Ulaş Saz1
1Department of Pediatrics, Division of Emergency Medicine, Ege University Faculty of Medicine
2Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Ege University
3Department of Clinical Microbiology, Ege University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey
Keywords: Children, clinical characteristics, coronavirus disease 2019, emergency department, pneumonia
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19) that causes a respiratory illness, continues to be a global pandemic. In this study, we purpose to identify the features of children with COVID 19 and the factors affecting disease severity.
METHODS: This is a retrospective, observational study was conducted on patients who presented with suspicion of COVID 19 from April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021, at a tertiary care medical center in Turkey. The characteristics of 640 children who were confirmed to have COVID 19 by real time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction were retrieved from medical records.
RESULTS: The mean age of the cases was 10 ± 6 years, and 56% of them were male. Seasonal difference did not affect the number of cases. The majority of the cases (n = 501, 78%) were infected by family members. Fever (67%) and cough (38%) were common complaints. The mean duration of fever was 1.9 ± 1.1 days. One fourth of the cases were asymptomatic, 462 (72%) had mild upper respiratory tract infections, and 18 (3%) had pneumonia. Patients with pneumonia were more likely to have comorbidities and had a longer fever duration (both P < 0.001). Fever, cough, and respiratory distress were more common in patients with pneumonia (P = 0.010, P = 0.023, and P <0.001, respectively). The mean C reactive protein (CRP) value of the patients with pneumonia was significantly higher than that of the others (P < 0.001). A total of 70 (11%) complicated patients were hospitalized, 5 of them requiring intensive care admission. All hospitalized patients were discharged with recovery.
CONCLUSIONS: Although pediatric COVID 19 patients tended to have a mild disease, some children with comorbidities can still develop a severe illness. CRP value is a useful indicator in the diagnosis of COVID 19 pneumonia. Furthermore, the prevalence rate of COVID 19 did not decrease with hot seasons.
How to cite this article: Yurtseven A, Turan C, Özenen GG, Işik H, Bal ZS, Sertöz R, et al. Characteristics of pediatric COVID-19 patients admitted to the emergency department and factors associated with pneumonia. Turk J Emerg Med 2022;22:143-8.
Our study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Review Committee of Ege University School of Medicine (Ethics approval number: 20‑4.2T/20 and dated July 22, 2021).
Subjects were included in the study after giving their informed consent.
1. Study concept and design: A.Y. and E.U.S. 2. Acquisition of data: A.Y., G.G.O., and H.I. 3. Analysis and interpretation of data: A.Y., C.T., and Z.S.B. 4. Drafting of the manuscript: A.Y., G.O., and R.S. 5. Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: R.S. and E.U.S. 6. Statistical analysis: A.Y. and Z.S.B. 7. Administrative, technical, and material support: C.T., H.I., and G.G.O. 8. Study supervision: R.S. and E.U.S.
None declared.
None.
We would like to thank all nurses and residents of the ED, who worked so hard with great devotion during COVID‑19 process.