The Frequency of COVID 19 in Children with Fever and/or Respiratory Symptoms in 2020-2021 Winter: Preliminary Report from Cyprus

Objective. The data regarding Covid-19 in children is still limited. Although the course of Covid-19 disease in children seems milder than adults, the co-morbid conditions that may cause severe infection or death have not been fully clarified and this creates anxiety. This study aims to evaluate the frequency of Covid-19 in children admitting to hospital with symptoms. Methods. A retrospective study during 7 months of the pandemic period was conducted in two tertiary care academic hospitals in North Cyprus. All patients admitted into the pediatric outpatient clinics with fever and/or respiratory symptoms and tested for Covid-19 with real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were involved in the study. Clinical characteristics including symptoms, physical examination findings, laboratory results, hospitalization status, and diagnosis were all recorded from hospital database retrospectively, and the frequency of positive Covid-19 testing in children was evaluated. Results. A total of 111 patients with fever and/or respiratory symptoms without a contact history with Covid-19 were assessed. The age of the children ranged from 2 -172 months, with a median age of 32 months, and 60.4% were male. A total of 19 (17.3%) were hospitalized and the Covid-19 positivity rate was 1.8%. Conclusion. There is a certain need for guidelines to be followed for Covid-19 diagnosis in symptomatic children without a contact history. Test timing, the need for consecutive testing or isolation and recommendations for symptomatic child caregivers about how to protect themselves should be considered and seriously discussed.