Investigation of Laboratory Indicators, Clinical Symptoms, and COVID-19 Vaccination History in Children Referred to Imam Khomeini Hospital in Jiroft City, South Iran

Abstract

Background: The commencement of COVID-19 vaccination has had an impact on hospitalizations and deaths of patients. This study aims to investigate the effect of COVID-19 vaccination on children›s hospitalizations and deaths. Methods: This cross-sectional study examined 893 children infected with COVID-19 referred to Imam Khomeini hospital in Jiroft City in the south of Iran in 2022. Data collected and analyzed included demographic variables including age, sex, place of residence, underlying disease, vaccination status, injection dose of vaccine, history of contact with a patient with COVID-19, and clinical and laboratory characteristics such as erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), white blood cell (WBC), creatinine (CR) and days of hospitalization. The data were analyzed using SPSS-v20 software. Results: The average age±SD of the patients is 4.6±3.9 years. There were 302 (33.81%) children in the age group of 9 to 12 years and 133 (14.89%) of children were in the age group under one year. The most common clinical symptoms in children with COVID-19 were fever (67.41%), diarrhea (38.63%), and cough (30.57%). ESR and CRP were 27.72±20.8, and 25.51±32.8 respectively amongst the participants. Out of 893 children, 480 (53.75%) were vaccinated and 413 (46.24%) had not received the vaccine. Out of 480 vaccinated children, 460 (95.83%) were outpatient, and only 20 (4.16%) were hospitalized, and out of 413 non-vaccinated children, 241 (58.35%) were outpatient, and 172 (41.64%) were hospitalized. Conclusion: The results showed that vaccination led to a 95.83% reduction in hospitalization and a 100% reduction in long-term hospitalization. The COVID-19 vaccination is very effective in preventing the harmful effects of COVID-19 in future trends and pandemics.