Spectrum of COVID-19 infection in children in Southern Nigeria
Ekpenyong, Enoobong Edet; Morgan, Akpan Usen-obong; Oloyede, Iso Precious; Ekanem, Anyiekere Morgan; Umoette, Ntiense; Etete, Peters.
Niger. j. paediatr
; 49(1): 17-21, 2022. figures, tables
Artigo
em Inglês
| AIM | ID: biblio-1372508
Background:
Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global pandemic that affects all age groups. Infected asymptomatic children can transmit the disease to vulnerable adults with co-morbidities resulting in severe disease in the latter. There are few reports of COVID-19 in children in Sub-Saharan Africa in general and in Nigeria in particular.Aim:
To determine the prevalence, symptoms and risk factors for COVID-19 in Southern Nigerian children.Methods:
This was a one-year retrospective cross-sectional study between April 2020 and March 2021. Data of all children tested for COVID-19 was extracted from the Epidemiology unit of Akwa Ibom state ministry of health. All patient identifiers were omitted and data was analyzed using STATA version 13.Results:
Two hundred and fifty five children (2.25%) out of a total of 11,289 people were tested for COVID-19. Fifty -four children (0.47%) of the total number of persons tested for COVID-19 were positive. Twenty one percent of the 255 children tested were positive for COVID-19. Two hundred and fifty- four (99.6%) of children that were tested had a positive history of contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case. Five (9.3%) of COVID-19 positive children were symptomatic. The commonest symptoms seen were Fever (90.9%), Anosmia (63.6%) and Aguesia (36.4%). Increasing age (15 years and above) was significantly associated with COVID-19 positivity (p=0.000). In addition, the presence of symptoms was significantly associated with COVID-19 positivity (p=0.04). Conclusion/Recommendation The prevalence of COVID-19 in Southern Nigerian children is low. Majority of the children have asymptomatic disease. Increasing age is significantly associated with COVID-19 positivity. We recommend increased COVID-19 testing in the general children population.
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