Clinical profile of children with sars-cov-2 infection from a dedicated covid-19 hospital in india

Objective: To determine the demography and clinical profile including severity, radiology, therapy, complications and outcome in hospitalized children with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: This observational study enrolled 100 children, aged 1 month to 12 year with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, admitted consecutively from 21st April to 19th August 2020. The above parameters were described, analyzed and the association of age, gender and underlying co morbidity with the severity of disease was assessed. Results: The study enrolled 100 children, 63 boys (boys:girls ratio=1.7:1) with median age of presentation being 2 year (IQR: 0.64 years to 7.25 years). Thirty-three children were below the age of 1 year, 32 were between 1 and 5 years while 35 were >5 years. Sixty-three children had non severe and 37 had severe disease. Thirty children had underlying co-morbidities. The most common symptom was fever and the most common systems involved were respiratory system followed by gastro-intestinal. Twenty-two children had abnormal chest radiograph. Eighty-two children received antibiotics. Fifteen children suffered from complications of COVID-19. The median duration of hospital stay for children with severe disease was 8 d (IQR 5-12 d). There were 3 deaths and 97 were discharged. Age and gender had no association with severity of disease. The severity of disease had significant association with co morbidities and number of underlying co-morbidities (p-value<0.01). Conclusion: Children can have varied presentation of SARS-CoV-2 infection and need monitoring with optimum care.