Comparison of laboratory parameters, clinical symptoms and clinical outcomes of COVID-19 and influenza in pediatric patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: New and more severe clinical manifestations associated with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are emerging constantly in the pediatric age group. Patients in this age group are also primary carriers of the influenza virus and are at a higher risk of developing severe infection. However, studies comparing influenza and COVID-19 to show which condition causes a more severe form of disease amongst the pediatric age group are scarce. AIM: To compare the laboratory results, clinical symptoms and clinical outcomes in pediatric patients with COVID-19 and influenza. METHODS: A systematic and comprehensive search was carried out in databases and search engines, including EMBASE, Cochrane, MEDLINE, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar from 1964 until January 2022. A meta-analysis was carried out using a random-effects model and pooled odds ratio (OR) or standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95%CI. RESULTS: A total of 16 studies satisfied the inclusion criteria. Pediatric COVID-19 patients had a significantly reduced risk of cough (pooled OR = 0.16; 95%CI: 0.09 to 0.27), fever (pooled OR = 0.23; 95%CI: 0.12 to 0.43), and dyspnea (pooled OR = 0.54; 95%CI: 0.33 to 0.88) compared to influenza patients. Furthermore, total hemoglobin levels (pooled SMD = 1.22; 95%CI: 0.29 to 2.14) in COVID-19 patients were significantly higher as compared to pediatric influenza patients. There was no significant difference in symptoms such as sore throat, white blood cell count, platelets, neutrophil and lymphocytes levels, and outcomes like mortality, intensive care unit admission, mechanical ventilation or length of hospital stay. CONCLUSION: COVID-19 is associated with a significantly lower rate of clinical symptoms and abnormal laboratory indexes compared to influenza in the pediatric age group. However, further longitudinal studies of the outcomes between influenza and COVID-19 pediatric patients are needed.

A pre-term infant of 32 weeks gestation with congenital tuberculosis treated successfully with antituberculosis chemotherapy.

An infant of 32 weeks gestation was separated from her mother at birth for treatment of hyaline membrane disease and, on recovery, was cared for by adoptive parents. At 25 days, she was treated for pneumonia with immunoglobulins and multiple antibiotics and appeared to respond. Her symptoms recurred at 8 weeks and tuberculosis was confirmed by detection in an acid-fast bacilli smear of gastric aspirate. Her mother presented with disseminated tuberculosis with meningitis 1 month after delivery. Criteria for the diagnosis of congenital tuberculosis in the infant were confirmed.

A syndrome of insulin resistance resembling Donohue syndrome with patent ductus arteriosus.

Donohue syndrome, a rare autosomal recessive disorder, is associated with the mutation of the insulin receptor gene in the short arm of the 19th chromosome. It is very rare that a syndrome of insulin resistance resembles Donohue syndrome with patent ductus arteriosus. A 14-year-old girl, whose parents were consanguineous, was often admitted for abdominal pain over the past 8 years. She presented not only polydipsia, polyphagia, and weight loss but also small elfin face, distended abdomen, enlarged clitoris, hypertrichosis, acanthosis nigricans of the neck, decreased subcutaneous fat and 3/6 continuous murmur radiating to the right shoulder with thrill on 2nd to 3rd left sternal border. In addition, she had hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinism, and patent ductus arteriosus by laboratory examination and echocardiography, respectively. This child shows insulin resistance resembling Donohue syndrome with patent ductus arteriosus. Most of patients with Donohue syndrome die prematurely. The child surviving for a long time may have a milder form of Donohue syndrome and may be due to a less severe form of the defective gene. Chromosomal abnormalities may be also associated with this disease.