Epidemiological characteristics, clinical course, and laboratory investigation of pediatric COVID-19 patients in a tertiary care center in Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: Since the initial emergence of the novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus responsible for the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, many studies have been exploring the nature and characteristics of this virus and its associated clinical manifestations. The present study aimed to describe the clinical presentation and outcomes of COVID-19 infections in pediatric patients. METHODS: A retrospective review of findings associated with 143 pediatric patients (age <14 years) with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis who had undergone inpatient or outpatient treatment at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between March 2020 and October 2020, was conducted. The analyzed data included patient demographic information, pre-existing medical conditions, symptoms, interventions, and outcomes. RESULTS: The median age of this patient population was 7 years. Of these 143 patients, 67 (46.8%) had known pre-existing medical conditions including bronchial asthma (12.8%), chronic lung disease (CLD) (3%), congenital heart disease (CHD) (17%), primary immunodeficiencies (1.5%), malignancies (9.8%), and 7.5% were post-transplant patients. Thirty-seven patients (26%) were overweight or obese. Sixty-three of these patients (51%) were symptomatic, with the most common symptom being fever (55%). Ultimately, 45 patients (31%) required admission to the hospital, with a median duration of hospitalization of 9.6 days for admitted patients. There were no documented cases of infection-related mortality among this pediatric cohort, although 11 patients experienced post-infectious complications that primarily manifested as a loss of taste and smell. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that pediatric COVID-19 patients tend to experience mild forms of the disease, without any significant differences in disease severity as a function of patient gender or immune status.