A Case Report for Severe COVID-19 in a 9-Year-Old Child Treated with Remdesivir and Dexamethasone

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is generally milder in children than in adults, and a substantial proportion of children with the disease have asymptomatic infections. Remdesivir is recommended for severe COVID-19. To date, there are little data on the outcomes of remdesivir treatment in children. We report a case of severe COVID-19 in a previously healthy but obese (body mass index, 27.6; 99.8 th percentile of the age) 9-year-old boy treated with remdesivir and dexamethasone. The patient had pneumonia at the time of diagnosis and required supplemental oxygen due to hypoxia one day after diagnosis. The patient developed respiratory distress as his pneumonia progressed rapidly. Therefore, remdesivir with dexamethasone therapy was initiated on hospital day 2. Supplemental oxygen was gradually weaned on hospital day 6 and stopped on hospital day 9. Significant improvement in pneumonic consolidations on chest X-ray was noted on hospital day 8. The patient was discharged on hospital day 21. We did not observe any adverse effects of remdesivir therapy and successfully treated a 9-year-old child with severe COVID-19.

A Case Report for Using Methylprednisolone for Severe ARDS Caused by SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant in a Pediatric Patient With Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome

“…In Korea, there has been only one case report of severe COVID-19 in pediatric patients. 5 To the best of our knowledge, severe ARDS in children has not been reported in Korea, especially for the delta variant. Here, we report a severe case of ARDS in which the patient required ventilation.…”

Clinical characteristics of pediatric patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 versus common human coronaviruses: a national multicenter study

“…8) Recently, a case of severe COVID-19 pneumonia that rapidly progressed to respiratory distress in a child was reported in Korea. 9) HCoVs are one of the causes of pediatric acute respiratory infections, such as bronchiolitis, pneumonia, and croup. 10) HCoVs have been detected in 3.4% of children 1 month to 5 years of age with acute wheezing, 11) and in 1.7% of children who were hospitalized for respiratory tract infections.…”

“…Similarly, to date, most pediatric patients, with confirmed COVID-19, in Korea have had mild symptoms, and no deaths have been reported [ 8 ]. Recently, a case of severe COVID-19 pneumonia that rapidly progressed to respiratory distress in a child was reported in Korea [ 9 ].…”