{Reference Type}: Journal Article
{Title}: Retrospective Analysis of Clinical Characteristics and Disease Outcomes in Children and Adolescents Hospitalized Due to COVID-19 Infection in Tunisia.
{Author}: Borgi A;Meftah K;Trabelsi I;Kyaw MH;Zaghden H;Bouafsoun A;Mezghani F;Missaoui N;Abdel Ali A;Essaddam L;Khemiri H;Haddad-Boubaker S;Boussetta K;Khemiri M;Ben Becher S;Boukthir S;Triki H;Menif K;Smaoui H;
{Journal}: Viruses
{Volume}: 16
{Issue}: 5
{Year}: 2024 05 14
{Factor}: 5.818
{DOI}: 10.3390/v16050779
{Abstract}: Due to low susceptibility of coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) in children, limited studies are available regarding COVID-19 in the pediatric population in Tunisia. The current study evaluated the incidence, clinical characteristics, and outcomes of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection among children hospitalized at Béchir Hamza Children's Hospital. A retrospective cohort analysis was conducted using the hospital database between March 2020 and February 2022 with children aged ≤15 years with SARS-CoV-2 infection (confirmed by RT-PCR). A total of 327 COVID-19 hospitalized patients with a mean age of 3.3 years were included; the majority were male. Neurological disease (20%) was the most common comorbidity, while fever (95.3%) followed by cough (43.7%) and dyspnea (39.6%) were the most frequent symptoms reported. Severe disease with oxygen requirement occurred in 30% of the patients; 13% were admitted in the Intensive Care Unit. The overall incidence rate of COVID-19 hospitalization (in Tunis governorates) was 77.02 per 100,000 while the inpatient case fatality rate was 5% in the study population. The most prevalent circulating variant during our study period was Delta (48.8%), followed by Omicron (26%). More than 45% of the study population were <6 months and one-fourth (n = 25, 26.5%) had at least one comorbidity. Thus, the study findings highlight the high disease burden of COVID-19 in infants.