Author:
Sedik Rozhan Nabaz Mohammed
Abstract
AbstractMost children infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus have asymptomatic or mild disease with a short clinical course and excellent outcome; meanwhile, some children experienced persisting symptoms lasting > 12 weeks from the COVID-19 infection diagnosis. This study aimed to define the acute clinical course of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection and outcomes in children after recovery. This prospective cohort study was conducted on 105 children (aged < 16 years) with confirmed COVID-19 infection at Jamal Ahmed Rashid Teaching Hospital, Sulaimaniyah, Iraq, from July to September 2021. The symptomatic and suspicious cases of COVID-19 infection in children were confirmed by real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) on nasopharyngeal swabs. About 85.6% of children fully recovered at ≤ 4 weeks from initial COVID-19 infection diagnosis, 42% were hospitalized, while 15.2% reported long COVID-19 infection symptoms. The most commonly reported symptoms were fatigue (7.1%), hair fall (4.0%), lack of concentration (3.0%), and abdominal pain (2.0%). Children aged 11–16 showed a greater risk of long-term COVID-19 infection symptoms. We also observed a higher risk of long COVID infection symptoms in those who reported ongoing symptoms at 4–6 weeks of follow-up assessment (p = 0.01). Despite mild disease and complete recovery in most children, many suffered from long COVID infection symptoms.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health
Cited by
1 articles.
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