the outcome of hospitalized children with covid-19 in a referral center in yazd, iran

Introduction: as there is limited research on covid-19 in children, and reports have indicated low adverse clinical outcomes and mortality rates, our team conducted this study to investigate the clinical outcomes in hospitalized children with covid-19. materials and methods: this historical cohort study included children aged 1 month to 18 years with covid-19. they were admitted to a referral hospital in yazd, iran, over a year from february 2020. demographic information such as age and sex, the length of hospitalization, and the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (pcr) test results were recorded. we also evaluated patients’ outcomes, including admission to the pediatric intensive care unit (picu), need for mechanical ventilation, and mortality. results: our study included 94 patients, of which 52.1% were female and 29.8% were under one year old. children aged 1-59 months accounted for more than half of the sample (53.2%). the most common symptoms reported were fever (85.1%), respiratory problems (47.9%), and gastrointestinal symptoms (46.8%). the mean duration of hospital stay was 6.4±5.7 days. about 38.3% of cases required admission to the picu, and 11.7% needed mechanical ventilation. 75% of deaths occurred in children with confirmed covid-19 who had an underlying disease. moreover, respiratory distress at the time of referral was significantly associated with admission to the intensive care unit (p=0.008), requiring mechanical ventilation (p=0.003), and mortality (p=0.02). conclusion: our findings suggest that children under one year old, patients with underlying diseases, and those experiencing respiratory distress at the time of referral are high-risk groups and require special attention in care and treatment.