Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Children with Acute Respiratory Infection: A Study From Southeastern Iran

Background: Different aspects of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in children have not been well understood so far. Objectives: In this paper, we reported the clinical, Paraclinical, and epidemiological features of the hospitalized children infected with COVID-19 in the southeast of Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in six hospitals affiliated to Kerman University of Medical Sciences. All children who were under the age of 15 years old hospitalized with acute respiratory infection from February 20 to May 14, 2020, were included in this study. Demographic characteristics, past medical history data, and disease-related data such as symptoms, signs, radiologic, and laboratory data were collected. Results: Of 97 hospitalized children with an acute respiratory infection, 13 cases (13.4%) had been diagnosed to be infected by COVID- 19. The mean (standard deviation) and median of age of the patients with COVID-19 were 68.0 (55.9) and 60 months, respectively. Fever (n = 11, 84.6%), cough (n = 8, 61.5%), respiratory distress (n = 5, 38.5%), and gastrointestinal symptoms (n = 5, 38.5%) were known as the most common symptoms in patients with COVID-19. Frequency fever (84.6% vs 47. 6%, P = 0.016) and respiratory distress (38.8% vs 13.1%, P = 0.022) were significantly higher in patients with COVID-19 compared to non-COVID individuals. Frequency of admission in the intensive care unit (38.5% vs. 27.4%, P = 0.668) and death rate (15.4% vs. 7.1%, P = 0.291) were higher in patients with COVID-19 compared to non-COVID-19 subjects, but there were no significant differences between the two groups in term of these variables. Conclusions: A low proportion of children hospitalized with acute respiratory syndrome were infected by COVID-19. Most of the children with COVID-19 recovered with supportive care with no need for any specific treatment.