NEW CORONAVIRUS INFECTION COVID-19: FEATURES OF THE COURSE IN CHILDREN IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Abstract

Objective of the research: to determine clinical and epidemiological features of the course of the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 in children in the Russian Federation (RF). Materials and methods: a retrospective analysis of all confirmed COVID-19 cases in children in the first half of 2020 in the Russian Federation was performed. Information about patients (age, sex, examination date, place of residence, disease severity final diagnosis, etc.) was taken from the database containing the Rospotrebnadzor report form № 970 «Information on cases of infectious diseases in persons with suspected new coronavirus infection» January – June 2020 across the Russian Federation. Research results were processed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 26 program. To assess the differences in nominal indicators (proportions), the Pearson χ2 test was used. The results were considered statistically significant at p<0,05. Results: in the RF, the total number of children infected with COVID-19 in the first half of 2020 amounted to 8,4% among all patients with this infection. Children of all ages get sick with COVID-19, and boys are slightly more likely than girls (52,2% versus 47,8%, p>0,05). In children, the maximum number of cases is registered in family foci – 75%. Upper respiratory tract infections were diagnosed in 72,1% of patients. The proportion of pneumonia was 1,8%, and 2/3 of children were over 3 years old (p<0,001). In almost 1/3 of patients, the infection course had no clinical manifestations. 18,2% of children at the disease onset had increased body temperature, while only 3,5% of children had hyperthermia above 390 C. Cough was registered in 50,8% of cases. Rhinitis/rhinopharyngitis developed only in every 4th child. Symptoms pathognomonic for COVID-19, such as loss of smell (anosmia) and taste (ageusia), were recorded only in 17% of cases. 41,3% of patients received treatment in a hospital, and among them children under 3 years of age predominated. Conclusion: in children in the RF, the new coronavirus infection COVID-19 is generally favorable.