Arvee Riza R Aquilizan*, Elynn L Go and Imelda Luna

Institute of Pediatrics and Child Health, St. Luke’s Medical Center, Quezon City, Philippines

*Corresponding Author: Arvee Riza R Aquilizan, Institute of Pediatrics and Child Health, St. Luke’s Medical Center, Quezon City, Philippines.

DOI: 10.31080/ASPE.2021.04.0455

Received: July 27, 2021; Published: September 24, 2021

Citation: Arvee Riza R Aquilizan., et al. “Clinical Profiles of Children (0 - 18 Years Old and 364 days) with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID 19) at St. Luke’s Medical Center Quezon City". Acta Scientific Paediatrics 4.10 (2021): 46-62.

Abstract

Background: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a worldwide dilemma still with increasing number of pediatric cases reported. Thus, it is important to know the clinical profile of these pediatric patients to further understand its course and outcome of management.

Objective: To describe the clinical profiles of confirmed COVID-19 pediatric patients at St. Luke’s Medical Center Quezon City from March to September 2020.

Design: This research is a descriptive cross-sectional study.

Subject: This study included all pediatric patients (0 - 18 years and 364 days old) confirmed COVID- 19 at St. Luke’s Medical Center Quezon City.

Methodology: A review of the electronic and written medical records was conducted.

Data analysis: Data will be presented as descriptive statistics using frequencies, proportions, means and standard deviation.

Results: A total of 90 pediatric patients were included. Majority of the children belonged to the 11 - 15 years age group and 76% were seen at the emergency department. Forty-six (51%) of them were female and forty-four (48.9%) were male. Most of the patients (59 patients, 68.6%) had known exposure to confirmed family members. Sixty-two of the subjects (68.9%) had mild signs and symptoms while twenty-five (27.8%) were asymptomatic. The most common symptoms seen in our subjects were fever (40%), and respiratory symptoms like cough (30%) and rhinorrhea (22.2%). Other notable symptoms were anosmia (8.9%), and dysgeusia (6.7%). Most of the children had normal chest x-ray findings (60.7%). In the laboratory findings of these patients, it was noted that majority had neutrophilia (74.2%). Almost all of the patients were discharged (98.9%) and was given supportive management.

Conclusion: Children with COVID-19 presented with milder clinical course and rarely we encounter critical cases compared to infected adults. Early detection is the key to prevent further spread of this disease but a lot of our patients were asymptomatic hence diagnosis is a challenge for pediatricians. Proper quarantine precautions must be emphasized to primary caregivers of these patients.

Keywords: COVID-19; Pediatric; Children; Clinical Profiles; Epidemiology

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Copyright: © 2021 Arvee Riza R Aquilizan., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.