Peculiarities of the course of coronavirus infection COVID-19 in children of Ukraine

Abstract

Background. Pandemic of coronavirus disease COVID-19 caused by a new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 still remains a global problem, but the data about the features of the course of COVID-19 infection among children of different ages are limited. The purpose was to conduct a generalized analysis of demographic, epidemiological and clinical features of COVID-19 in children of different ages from different regions of Ukraine. Materials and methods. In accordance with the principles of bioethics, a multicenter retrospective open cohort study of 669 cases of infection caused by coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in children was conducted at the departments of hospital bases of Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Chernivtsi and Odesa. Clinical, laboratory and instrumental mar­kers of COVID-19 coronavirus infection were determined in hospitalized children. Results. The first (І) group included 67 infants under 2 months of age, the second (ІІ) one — 320 children aged from 60 days to 6 years, a subgroup of 127 patients of junior and middle school age formed the third (ІІІ) group, and the fourth (IV) group consisted of 155 adolescents at the age over 12. Damage to internal organs by SARS-CoV-2 virus was characterized by a multi-syste­mic type and manifested by changes in the upper respiratory tract in 70.1 % of cases, lower respiratory tract lesions — in 54.7 %, infectious and inflammatory changes — in 57.2 %, gastrointestinal symptoms — in 9.2 %, and neurological signs — in 17.8 % of observations. According to the results of study, the most frequent clinical symptoms found in the total cohort of patients were fever (51.1 %), general fatigue (51.6 %), sore throat (70.1 %), cough (54.7 %) and poor appetite (52.8 %). Damage to the lung parenchyma with specific clinical and radiological manifestations as a sign of coronavirus disease COVID-19 was detected in 23.9–25.9 % of children from the different regions of Ukraine, with a significantly increased risk of pneumonia among adolescents (odds ratio (OR) = 7.5). The most frequent changes when using additional methods of examination were leukocytosis (18.8 % of cases), thrombocytosis (14.5 %), leukopenia (11.1 %), increased С-reactive protein (43.7 %). Elevated content of platelets was mainly found in children of the first two months of life (38.3 % of cases), and it reliably increased during the period of in-patient treatment, which coincided with the tendencies to increasing the level of C-reactive protein in this age group (OR = 5.0). Conclusions. The analysis of epidemiological, clinical and laboratory features of the course of coronavirus disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 in children of different age groups from different regional hospital bases of Ukraine was consistent with the course in adult patients with COVID-19, but with higher chances of milder forms of the disease (OR = 3.1) among young children, and with involvement of the lower respiratory tract and higher risk of severe course among older children (OR = 7.3).

Keywords

• children, coronavirus disease covid-19