Retrospective Analysis of Clinical Characteristics and Disease Outcomes in Children and Adolescents Hospitalized Due to COVID-19 Infection in Tunisia
Aida Borgi,
Khaoula Meftah,
Ines Trabelsi,
Moe H. Kyaw,
Hela Zaghden,
Aida Bouafsoun,
Fatma Mezghani,
Nada Missaoui,
Alya Abdel Ali,
Leila Essaddam,
Haifa Khemiri,
Sondes Haddad-Boubaker,
Khedija Boussetta,
Monia Khemiri,
Saida Ben Becher,
Samir Boukthir,
Henda Triki,
Khaled Menif,
Hanen Smaoui
Affiliations
Aida Borgi
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Children’s Hospital of Tunis, Tunis 1007, Tunisia
Khaoula Meftah
Laboratory of Microbiology, Children’s Hospital of Tunis, Tunis 1007, Tunisia
Ines Trabelsi
Pediatric Department B, Children’s Hospital of Tunis, Tunis 1007, Tunisia
Moe H. Kyaw
Pfizer Inc., New York, NY 10017, USA
Hela Zaghden
Pfizer Inc., Tunis 1007, Tunisia
Aida Bouafsoun
Laboratory of Microbiology, Children’s Hospital of Tunis, Tunis 1007, Tunisia
Fatma Mezghani
Pediatric Department A, Children’s Hospital of Tunis, Tunis 1007, Tunisia
Nada Missaoui
Pediatric Department C, Children’s Hospital of Tunis, Tunis 1007, Tunisia
Alya Abdel Ali
Department of Pediatrics and Emergency, Children’s Hospital of Tunis, Tunis 1007, Tunisia
Leila Essaddam
Department of Pediatrics and Emergency, Children’s Hospital of Tunis, Tunis 1007, Tunisia
Haifa Khemiri
Laboratory of Clinical Virology, WHO Regional Reference Laboratory for Poliomyelitis and Measles for the EMR, Institute Pasteur of Tunis, Tunis 1002, Tunisia
Sondes Haddad-Boubaker
Laboratory of Clinical Virology, WHO Regional Reference Laboratory for Poliomyelitis and Measles for the EMR, Institute Pasteur of Tunis, Tunis 1002, Tunisia
Khedija Boussetta
Pediatric Department B, Children’s Hospital of Tunis, Tunis 1007, Tunisia
Monia Khemiri
Pediatric Department A, Children’s Hospital of Tunis, Tunis 1007, Tunisia
Saida Ben Becher
Department of Pediatrics and Emergency, Children’s Hospital of Tunis, Tunis 1007, Tunisia
Samir Boukthir
Pediatric Department C, Children’s Hospital of Tunis, Tunis 1007, Tunisia
Henda Triki
Laboratory of Clinical Virology, WHO Regional Reference Laboratory for Poliomyelitis and Measles for the EMR, Institute Pasteur of Tunis, Tunis 1002, Tunisia
Khaled Menif
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Children’s Hospital of Tunis, Tunis 1007, Tunisia
Hanen Smaoui
Laboratory of Microbiology, Children’s Hospital of Tunis, Tunis 1007, Tunisia
Due to low susceptibility of coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) in children, limited studies are available regarding COVID-19 in the pediatric population in Tunisia. The current study evaluated the incidence, clinical characteristics, and outcomes of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection among children hospitalized at Béchir Hamza Children’s Hospital. A retrospective cohort analysis was conducted using the hospital database between March 2020 and February 2022 with children aged ≤15 years with SARS-CoV-2 infection (confirmed by RT-PCR). A total of 327 COVID-19 hospitalized patients with a mean age of 3.3 years were included; the majority were male. Neurological disease (20%) was the most common comorbidity, while fever (95.3%) followed by cough (43.7%) and dyspnea (39.6%) were the most frequent symptoms reported. Severe disease with oxygen requirement occurred in 30% of the patients; 13% were admitted in the Intensive Care Unit. The overall incidence rate of COVID-19 hospitalization (in Tunis governorates) was 77.02 per 100,000 while the inpatient case fatality rate was 5% in the study population. The most prevalent circulating variant during our study period was Delta (48.8%), followed by Omicron (26%). More than 45% of the study population were n = 25, 26.5%) had at least one comorbidity. Thus, the study findings highlight the high disease burden of COVID-19 in infants.
