Characteristics of Hospitalized Pediatric Coronavirus Disease 2019 Cases in Chicago, Illinois, March–April 2020

Abstract

Background To date, no report on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pediatric patients in a large urban center with data on underlying comorbidities and coinfection for hospitalized cases has been published. Methods This was a case series of Chicago COVID-19 patients aged 0–17 years reported to the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) from March 5 to April 8, 2020. Enhanced case investigation was performed. χ 2 and Wilcoxon 2-sample tests were used to compare characteristics among hospitalized and nonhospitalized cases. Results During March 5–April 8, 2020, 6369 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported to CDPH; 64 (1.0%) were among children aged 0–17 years. Ten patients (16%) were hospitalized, and 7 (70%) required intensive care (median length of hospitalization, 4 days [range, 1–14 days]). Reported fever and dyspnea were significantly higher in hospitalized patients than in nonhospitalized patients (9/10 vs 28/54, P = .04 and 7/10 vs 10/54, P = .002, respectively). Hospitalized patients were significantly younger than nonhospitalized patients (median, 3.5 years vs 12 years; P = .03) and all either had an underlying comorbidity or coinfection. Among the 34 unique households with multiple laboratory-confirmed infections, the median number of laboratory-confirmed infections was 2 (range, 2–5), and 31 (91%) households had at least 1 COVID-19–infected adult. For 15 households with available data to assess transmission, 11 (73%) were adult-to-child, 2 (13%) child-to-child, and 2 (13%) child-to-adult. Conclusions Enhanced case investigation of hospitalized patients revealed that underlying comorbidities and coinfection might have contributed to severe disease. Given frequency of household transmission, healthcare providers should consider alternative dispositional planning for affected families of children living with comorbidities.

Severe COVID-19 Infection and Pediatric Comorbidities: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…For details on the underlying conditions represented among all 9, 353 children with comorbidities regardless of COVID-19 severity, see Supplement S3. In the 42 studies included in this meta-analysis, we found that among children with severe COVID-19, 64 children were obese (Abdel-Mannan et al, 2020;Chao et al, 2020;de Farias et al, 2020;DeBiasi et al, 2020;Derespina et al, 2020;Giacomet et al, 2020;Gonzalez-Dambrauskas et al, 2020;Kaushik et al, 2020;Lovinsky-Desir et al, 2020;Shekerdemian et al, 2020;Swann et al, 2020;Waltuch et al, 2020;Zachariah et al, 2020), 58 had chronic respiratory disease (Belhadjer et al, 2020;Chao et al, 2020;DeBiasi et al, 2020;Diorio et al, 2020;Gonzalez-Dambrauskas et al, 2020, Götzinger et al, 2020Lovinsky-Desir et al, 2020;Mannheim et al, 2020;Riollano-Cruz et al, 2020;Shekerdemian et al, 2020;Swann et al, 2020;Waltuch et al, 2020;Yayla et al, 2020;Zachariah et al, 2020), 45 had cardiovascular disease (Chao et al, 2020;DeBiasi et al, 2020;Derespina et al, 2020;Diorio et al, 2020;Eghbali et al, 2020;Garazzino et al, 2020;Giacomet et al, 2020;Gonzalez-Dambrauskas et al, 2020;Götzinger et al, 2020;Kainth et al, 2020;Kaushik et al, 2020;…”

“…Five children had renal disease (Cai et al, 2020;Götzinger et al, 2020;Oualha et al, 2020), and 2 had GI comorbidities (Giacomet et al, 2020) respectively. Seventy-one children had other conditions (Diorio et al, 2020;Garazzino et al, 2020;Gonzalez-Dambrauskas et al, 2020;Götzinger et al, 2020;Kainth et al, 2020;Mannheim et al, 2020;Schwartz et al, 2020;Shekerdemian et al, 2020;Swann et al, 2020;Zachariah et al, 2020) including prematurity, trisomy 21, or other genetic abnormalities.…”

An overview of smell and taste problems in paediatric COVID‐19 patients

“…No severe or critical clinical presentations were reported, and a quarter of the children had no additional symptoms when they presented with COVID-19. 6 Mannheim et al 7 Another study reported that a 17-year-old girl with beta-thalassaemia, who tested positive for the virus, presented with a total loss of smell and taste for 8 days. She had also been sneezing for 2 days.…”

Comorbilidades en niños menores de 17 años fallecidos por COVID-19 en ciudad de Guatemala

“…Hasta la fecha (05/10/2020), en el departamento de Guatemala se presentaron 6,888 casos positivos de Covid-19 entre las edades de 0 a 19 años, reportando 46 fallecidos, mientras que en Italia se reportaron 4,406 casos entre las edades de 0 a 17 años y solamente 4 fallecidos. [5] De acuerdo a nuestro estudio, el rango etario más frecuente (53%) oscila entre 0 a 5 años. Del total de pacientes estudiados, un 74% corresponden al sexo masculino, mientras que en Estados Unidos se reporta 53% y en Italia 51,4%, [5,6] De las comorbilidades asociadas, las más frecuentes fueron enfermedades multisistémicas (32%).…”

“…[5] De acuerdo a nuestro estudio, el rango etario más frecuente (53%) oscila entre 0 a 5 años. Del total de pacientes estudiados, un 74% corresponden al sexo masculino, mientras que en Estados Unidos se reporta 53% y en Italia 51,4%, [5,6] De las comorbilidades asociadas, las más frecuentes fueron enfermedades multisistémicas (32%). Comparando los resultados encontrados en Estados Unidos, las enfermedades crónicas del pulmón (25%) y el asma (7%), [7,8] se asemejan al porcentaje encontrado en nuestro estudio correspondiente a enfermedades del sistema respiratorio (23%).…”