ABSTRACT
The paper identifies for the first time for the Volgograd region (Russia) the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of children 0-16 years old with the laboratory confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 hospitalized in a children's infectious clinic in April-August 2020. The Volgograd Region is one of the biggest territorial entities in Southern Russia;therefore our first published analytical data needs to be compared with relevant Russian/European data. The diagnosis was verified by the nucleic acid amplification: isolation of SARS-CoV-2 RNA by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from the upper respiratory tract mucosa. The study did not include outpatients. Rarity of such symptoms as headache and weakness (7.1%), as well as dysosmia (4.1%) in the complete absence of dysgeusia attracted our attention. In none of the patients we were able to identify an exanthem over the course of infection.