Clinical and laboratory characteristics of children with severe and nonsevere COVID‐19 in Kermanshah, west of Iran: A retrospective study

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The study aimed to collect and compare clinical and laboratory findings of children with severe and nonsevere COVID‐19 in Kermanshah City, located in the west of Iran. METHODS: The study was conducted on 500 children with COVID‐19 hospitalized in Mohammad‐Kermanshahi Hospital in Kermanshah City. Pediatric COVID‐19 was confirmed by reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) test using respiratory secretion samples. Medical records were reviewed and information related to demographic characteristics, underlying diseases, clinical manifestations, laboratory findings, and chest computed tomography (CT) scans were all extracted from electronic and paper records. Patients were divided into three groups according to the severity of the disease: mild, moderate, and severe. Clinical and laboratory findings were compared between the groups and the collected data were analyzed by statistical methods. RESULTS: Out of 500 patients, 286 were boys and 214 were girls. Of the patients, 321 cases were only COVID‐19, while 179 patients were diagnosed as Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS‐C) positive. The average age of COVID‐19 patients was 3.85 ± 4.48 and of MIS‐C patients was 3.1 ± 3.5. In order, fever, cough, and heart disorders were the most common symptoms in patients with COVID‐19 and MIS‐C, respectively. In terms of disease severity, 246 patients had mild disease, 19 patients had moderate disease, and 56 patients had severe disease. In severe patients, the average number of white blood cells (WBC) was higher, while the average number of lymphocytes was lower. Also, in these patients, the average age was lower, and most of them had respiratory distress. In mild patients, often cough, diarrhea, and vomiting were observed. CONCLUSION: The results of our study showed that laboratory factors such as WBC count, lymphocyte count, CT findings, Respiratory distress, cough, diarrhea, and vomiting can be used to evaluate the severity of COVID‐19 in children.