comprehensive investigation of demographic, clinical, and paraclinical findings in hospitalized children with covid-19

Background: given the differing characteristics of covid-19 in children compared to adults, there is a need for comprehensive investigations of associated factors in hospitalized children.objectives: therefore, we aimed to assess demographic, clinical, and paraclinical findings in hospitalized children with covid-19. methods: this study divided hospitalized patients aged three months to 18 years with a positive polymerase chain reaction (pcr) test into two groups: severe and mild cases. risk factors, including age, sex, weight, place of residence, clinical symptoms, lung involvement in chest x-rays, and laboratory parameters, were compared between these two groups (mild and severe). results: the study included 375 hospitalized patients (75 severe and 300 mild cases). the mean age was 7.50 ± 5.57 months. among the patients, 215 males (58%) were enrolled. severe cases exhibited a higher frequency of sleepiness (40%) and shortness of breath (41.3%). clinical signs such as respiratory rate (35 breaths/min) and heart rate (120 bpm) were higher in severe cases, while blood oxygen levels (92%) were lower. severe cases also showed higher lung involvement in radiographs (85.7%). among laboratory factors, white blood cell count (8650), neutrophils (6762), and lymphocytes (2090) were higher in severe cases, while alkaline phosphatase (320.5) was lower. conclusions: our results highlighted key findings regarding demographic, clinical, and paraclinical features in hospitalized children with covid-19, offering valuable insights into this novel phenomenon. the study recommends close monitoring of patients with symptoms such as shortness of breath and sleepiness to prevent disease progression to a severe state.