Clinical characteristics of children with COVID-19 pneumonia

Abstract

For this purpose, 75 children under the age of 18 were included in the study. The test for SARS-CoV-2 virus RNA was positive in the pathological material from the nasopharynx in all examined patients. The control group consisted of 15 healthy children. The patients included in the study were divided into 2 groups according to severity of disease: 49 (65.3%) patients with moderate COVID-19 were included in group I, 26 (34.7%) patients with severe COVID-19 - in group 2. Examination methods included anamnestic, clinical, instrumental and laboratory studies. The most common symptoms among children examined were fever (66 (88.0%)) and cough (74 (98.7%)). Rarely, muscle pains, loss of sense of smell and taste, headaches have been observed in older children. Intergroup comparison revealed higher levels of ferritin, D-dimer and fibrinogen in group II compared with group I. According to the results obtained, the course of the disease in children, in contrast to adults, is more favorable.