Clinical and Laboratory Features of PCR-Confirmed and Clinically Suspected COVID-19 Pediatric Patients: A Single Hospital-Based Experience During the First COVID-19 Wave in the United Arab Emirates.

This study investigated clinical and laboratory differences between confirmed (RT-PCR-positive) and clinically suspected (RT-PCR-negative) COVID-19 pediatric patients, and explored factors associated with disease severity at presentation and duration of hospitalization. Medical charts of COVID-19-confirmed and clinically suspected pediatric patients admitted to a tertiary hospital in Abu Dhabi were reviewed. Sociodemographic information and clinical and laboratory outcomes were retrieved and analyzed. Between 1 April to 30 June, 2020, 173 patients (mean age: 3.6 ± SD 3.2 years) presented with respiratory symptoms. Of them, 18.0% had confirmed contact with COVID-19 cases, 66.5% had symptoms for ≤3 days, and 86.7% were with moderate to severe disease. Twenty-eight (16.1%) patients tested positive while the rest (83.8%) tested negative in RT-PCR. COVID-19-confirmed and clinically suspected patients were statistically similar ( In pediatric patients with negative RT-PCR, COVID-19 is still suspected based on clinical symptoms and epidemiological data. A tentative diagnosis can be made based on a thorough examination, and proper medical management can be initiated promptly.

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Copyright © 2022 Eldin, Saleh, Labib, Othman, Chacko, Mae, Elnour and Al-Rifai.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.