Respiratory manifestation of hospitalized pediatric COVID-19 At Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital

Abstract

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been found to present a wide range of symptoms and severity in pediatric patients.

Objective: To study the respiratory symptoms in pediatric patients diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) at Maharaj Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital.

Methods: A retrospective descriptive study, was conducted using the medical records of children aged from 29 days to 15 years who were diagnosed with COVID-19 and were admitted to the pediatric ward at Maharaj Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital, from January 1 2022, to June 30, 2022 (6 months).

Results: There were 174 participants enrolled, mostly under 5 years old with median age of 3 years and 50.6% were females. Preexisting comorbidities were found in 26.4% including obesity 10.3% and immunocompromised/cancer 5.7%. The most common initial diagnosis was common cold (57.5%) followed by pharyngitis (13.8%) and pneumonia (11.5%). Higher rates of pneumonia were found in patients with comorbidities. Most (94.8%) were admitted to the cohort ward. The median length of stay was 4 days. Most patients (89.1%) did not require oxygen supplementation. Respiratory supports were required for 19 patients (10.9%) including mechanical ventilation 8 patients (4.6%), high-flow nasal canula 5 patients (5.2%), and nasal canula 2 patients (1.1%). The most common complication was acute respiratory failure (4.6%). There was no deaths in this study.

Conclusion: Most hospitalized patients with COVID-19 were symptomatic, The most common respiratory diagnosis was upper respiratory tract infection. Pneumonia was more frequently observed in patients with comorbidity.