METHODS: A multi-centre, retrospective observational study was performed among children aged ≤12 years with laboratory-proven COVID-19 between 1 February and 31 December 2020.
RESULTS: In total, 261 children (48.7% males, 51.3% females) were included in this study. The median age was 6 years [interquartile range (IQR) 3-10 years]. One hundred and fifty-one children (57.9%) were asymptomatic on presentation. Among the symptomatic cases, fever was the most common presenting symptom. Two hundred and forty-one (92.3%) cases were close contacts of infected household or extended family members. Twenty-one (8.4%) cases had abnormal radiological findings. All cases were discharged alive without requiring supplemental oxygen therapy or any specific treatment during hospitalization. The median duration of hospitalization was 7 days (IQR 6-10 days). One (2.1%) of the uninfected guardians accompanying a child in quarantine tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) upon discharge.
CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 in children was associated with mild symptoms and a good prognosis. Familial clustering was an important epidemiologic feature in the outbreak in Negeri Sembilan. The risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from children to guardians in hospital isolation was minimal despite close proximity.
METHODS: A retrospective, observational study was performed among infants aged 6 months and below hospitalized for COVID-19 in a tertiary state hospital in Malaysia between February 1 and April 30, 2022. The primary outcome was "serious disease," defined as pneumonia requiring respiratory support or dehydration with warning signs. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine independent predictors for serious disease.
RESULTS: A total of 102 infants were included in the study; 53.9% were males with a median age of 11 weeks (interquartile range: 5-20 weeks). Sixteen patients (15.7%) had pre-existing comorbidities, including preterm birth. Fever was the most common presenting symptom (82.4%), followed by cough (53.9%), and rhinorrhea (31.4%). Forty-one infants (40.2%) presented with serious disease, warranting either respiratory support or intravenous fluid therapy for dehydration. Recent maternal COVID-19 vaccination was associated with a reduced risk of serious disease on univariate analysis but was not significant after multivariate adjustment (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.39; 95% CI: 0.14-1.11; p = 0.08). Exclusive breastfeeding was protective against serious COVID-19 in young infants, independent of other confounding factors (aOR 0.21, 95% CI: 0.06-0.71; p = 0.01).
CONCLUSION: COVID-19 is a serious disease with non-specific clinical manifestations in young infants. Exclusive breastfeeding could play an important protective role.
METHODS: A retrospective, multicentre, observational study was performed among children ≤15 years old who were hospitalized for MIS-C between January 18, 2021 and June 30, 2023. The incidence of MIS-C was estimated using reported SARS-CoV-2 cases and census population data. Descriptive analyses were used to summarize the clinical presentation and outcomes.
RESULTS: The study included 53 patients with a median age of 5.7 years (IQR 1.8-8.7 years); 75.5% were males. The overall incidence of MIS-C was approximately 5.9 cases per 1,000,000 person-months. Pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admission was required for 22 (41.5%) patients. No mortalities were recorded. Children aged 6-12 years were more likely to present with cardiac dysfunction/shock (odds ratio [OR] 5.43, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.67-17.66), whereas children below 6 years were more likely to present with a Kawasaki disease phenotype (OR 5.50, 95% CI 1.33-22.75). Twenty patients (37.7%) presented with involvement of at least four organ systems, but four patients (7.5%) demonstrated single-organ system involvement.
CONCLUSION: An age-based variation in the clinical presentation of MIS-C was demonstrated. Our findings suggest MIS-C could manifest in a spectrum, including single-organ involvement. Despite the high requirement for PICU admission, the prognosis of MIS-C was favorable, with no recorded mortalities.
METHODS: An observational controlled study comparing neonatal respiratory morbidities before and after the single dose 12mg dexamethasone was implemented in our obstetrics and gynaecology centre for term elective caesarean section deliveries. We included singleton pregnancies from 37+0 to 38+6 weeks undergoing elective caesarean section into our study. A total of 674 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were recruited. We compared the rates and duration of admission to neonatal intensive care unit, the need for mechanical ventilation and the rate of transient tachypnoea of the newborn in the first half of 2019 without IM dexamethasone injections against the second half of the year when a single dose IM dexamethasone was given.
RESULTS: IM dexamethasone injection did not show any significant benefit with regards to reducing the admission to neonatal care (OR 0.97, p- value 0.69), admission to neonatal intensive care unit (OR 0.91, p- value 0.80), the need for mechanical ventilation (OR 0.98, p- value 0.95), and the incidence of transient tachypnoea of the newborn (OR1.01, p- value 0.96). There was also no significant difference for the duration of admission in the neonatal intensive care unit for both groups (p- value 0.17).
CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that there was no significant benefit gained from the lower dose antenatal corticosteroids for term elective caesarean section deliveries and considering that there have been long term harmful consequences demonstrated from the higher dose of antenatal corticosteroids at term, this practice should therefore be discontinued until a larger study is done to refute these findings. The use of such dexamethasone should only be a viable option in a research setting.