Clinical profile and in-hospital outcomes of COVID-19 among adolescents at a tertiary care hospital in India

INTRODUCTION: We aimed to describe the clinical profile and risk factors for severe disease in adolescents hospitalised with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) METHODS: A retrospective analysis of an admitted cohort of COVID-19 patients was performed at a tertiary hospital in North India. Adolescents aged 12–18 years who were hospitalised during the first wave (March–December, 2020) and the second wave (March–June, 2021) were included. Data on the demographic details, clinical presentation, laboratory parameters, disease severity at admission, treatments received, and in-hospital outcomes were retrieved RESULTS: The study included 197 adolescents with a median [inter-quartile range (IQR)] age of 15 (13–17) years, of whom 117 (59.4%) were male. Among these, 170 (86.3%) were admitted during the first wave. Underlying co-morbidities were present in nine (4.6%) patients. A total of 60 (30.9%) patients were asymptomatic. In the severity grading, 148 (84.6%) had mild, 16 (9.1%) had moderate, and 11 (6.3%) had severe disease. Fever (14.9%) and cough (14.9%) were the most commonly encountered symptoms. The median (IQR) duration of hospital stay was 10 (8–13) days, and six (3.1%) patients died in the hospital CONCLUSION: Adolescents admitted with COVID-19 had predominantly asymptomatic or mild disease, and the mortality rate was 3.1%.