EXPERIENCE IN CHILDREN IN THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC OF A TERTIARY CENTER, IN ISTANBUL

Abstract

Objective: The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which unexpectedly has affected the whole world, continues to infect millions of people and causes the death of hundreds of thousands of people. There has been no consensus on the pediatric age group yet. For this reason, it was aimed to share the pediatric group experience of our center. Material and Method: After the pandemic announcement, 1076 pediatric cases admitted to our center with suspected COVID-19 disease were discussed. Eighty-five children who were positive in the SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction test, were evaluated retrospectively with epidemiological, clinical, laboratory and imaging data. Results: Half of the patients were male and about half of them were between 60-179 months. The household contact/exposure was 80% of the patients. The most common complaints were cough and fever, with the rates of 51.8% and 47.1%, respectively. There was a milder clinic 72.9% of patients and critical illness only 2.4% of the patients. The most striking laboratory finding was lymphopenia. Imaging results showed that abnormal thorax CT rate was 10.6%. Isolation at home was administered on 80% of the patients. Various specific treatments were used only in 4.7% of the hospitalized patients. One of these patients who received hydroxychloroquine, intravenous immunglobuline and tocilizumab died. The mortality rate was 1.5%. Conclusion: In the absence of reliable diagnostic tests and specific antiviral treatments appropriate for children, it was conclu ded that we need more virological, epidemiological, clinical, laboratory and imaging studies to better understand and manage COVID-19 infection.