PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Shahin, Walaa
AU  - Rabie, Walaa
AU  - Alyossof, Osama
AU  - Alasiri, Mohammed
AU  - Alfaki, Mohamed
AU  - Mahmoud, Elamin
AU  - Hijazi, Muwaffak
AU  - Faraidi, Huda El
AU  - Alahmari, Hassan
TI  - COVID-19 in children ranging from asymptomatic to a multi-system inflammatory disease
AID  - 10.15537/smj.2021.42.3.20200625
DP  - 2021 Mar 01
TA  - Saudi Medical Journal
PG  - 299--305
VI  - 42
IP  - 3
4099  - http://smj.org.sa/content/42/3/299.short
4100  - http://smj.org.sa/content/42/3/299.full
SO  - Saudi Med J2021 Mar 01; 42
AB  - Objectives: To identify clinical and laboratory characteristics of the Saudi children with confirmed COVID-19.Methods: Eighty-eight children (0-14 years) with COVID-19 who were admitted to Prince Sultan Military Medical City (PSMMC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from April to June 2020 were recruited.Results: Mean age was 5.74 ± 4.7 years with 41 (49.4%) males and 42 (50.6%) females. The length of hospital stay (LOS) ranged from 1 to 17 days. The main source of infection was infected family members. Mean values of C-reactive protein (CRP), serum ferritin, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were noticeably above normal. Degree of severity and length of stay was significantly correlated with lymphopenia (r= -0.36; p=0.001), whereas it was positively correlated with absolute neutrophil count and with high inflammatory markers, such as CRP, LDH, and others.Conclusions: Identifying the clinical and laboratory characteristics of the Saudi children with confirmed COVID-19 will improve understanding of this disease’s presentation and will help put rapid and proper management strategies into place to face this pandemic. A high index of suspicion is needed for cases presenting with multi-system inflammatory disease, which represented 5.7% of the included study population.