RESUMO
Since the beginning of the pandemic, many reports have pointed to age as the most important risk factor for severe COVID-19 in adults, but this relationship is less clear in children. Between March 2020 and April 2022, 1405 pediatric COVID-19 patients were included in our prospective study, which aimed to analyze the disease's characteristics in three age groups: infants, toddlers (1-5 years), and children (5-18 years). We observed male prevalence of the disease in infants and toddlers compared to female prevalence in children. Comorbidities appeared most often in children. In the first pandemic wave, the vast majority of pediatric patients were children, but later, the percentage of infant and toddler patients increased significantly. A total of 74% of hospitalized children were younger than five years. Upper respiratory tract symptoms were most common in infants and toddlers, and lower respiratory tract symptoms and gastroenterocolitis were more common in children. Neurological symptoms appeared similarly in all age groups. The activities of ALT, CK, and LDH were the most elevated in infants, along with D-dimers. The median length of hospitalization fluctuated between three and four days and was highest in infants. Severe courses were more common in adolescents.
RESUMO
This is a single-center, prospective study that compared the clinical presentation and laboratory findings of hospitalized children during the first five waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected, according to a standardized questionnaire, from 1407 children from 23 March 2020 to 30 April 2022. Significant differences in clinical courses were found among the five waves probably due to different SARS-CoV-2 variants. The median age was 95.8 months in the first wave versus 14.6-23 months in the others. The number of patients with upper respiratory infection was the highest in the fifth wave (74.4% versus 43.8-56.9% in the others) and for lower respiratory infection in the first wave (50.0% versus 16.4-32.5%). Gastroenterocolitis was more common in the fifth wave (24.4% versus 8.9-16.5%); neurological diagnoses appeared more frequently in the fourth wave (16.6% versus 0.6-9.9%), while anosmia and ageusia were higher in the fifth wave (13% versus 1.5-4%). Life-threatening courses were relatively rare. However, children with pneumonia, dehydration from high fever, gastrointestinal symptoms, loss of smell and taste, and neurological symptoms required hospitalization.