ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: In March 2020, WHO announced Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak a global pandemic. During this pandemic, patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) have been placed in the "high-risk" category of the population. Although there are numerous publications describing COVID-19 in adult patients, pediatric data are still limited. OBSERVATION: Herein, we report case series of 5 sickle cell disease Omani children who got infected with COVID-19; illustrating their different ways of presentation, management and highlighting the outcomes. CONCLUSION: Although SCD patients are considered as a high-risk group, all of the observed patients, and whose cases are reported here, have recovered. A large scale of SCD cases should be studied to reach more conclusive results.
Subject(s)
Anemia, Sickle Cell/virology , COVID-19/complications , SARS-CoV-2/isolation & purification , Anemia, Sickle Cell/diagnosis , Anemia, Sickle Cell/epidemiology , Anemia, Sickle Cell/therapy , COVID-19/transmission , COVID-19/virology , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Male , Oman/epidemiologyABSTRACT
On 27 April 2020, the National Health Service England issued an emergency alert for a new condition owing to the observation of an increasing number of cases of a COVID-19-related hyperinflammatory syndrome termed multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). Some of the presenting symptoms appeared similar to the Kawasaki disease and toxic shock syndrome. We report the cases of six children fitting the criteria of MIS-C, admitted to Royal Hospital and Sohar Hospital, Oman, between the months of June and July in 2020. Four of these patients required admission at the paediatric intensive care unit for inotropic support while two were admitted to the paediatric ward on suspicion of appendicitis. MIS-C has been reported in a small number of individuals below the age of 21 years with a median age of 9-10 years. Five of the current patients were aged less than the median age reported in the existing literature. All of the patients showed complete recovery with supportive management, intravenous immunoglobulin and steroids, with one patient requiring interleukin-6 inhibitor (tocilizumab).
Subject(s)
COVID-19/complications , Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome , Shock, Septic , Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome/virology , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Infant , Male , Oman , Pandemics , SARS-CoV-2 , State MedicineSubject(s)
COVID-19 , Cystic Fibrosis , Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections , Child , Humans , Palivizumab , SARS-CoV-2Subject(s)
Asthma/complications , Asthma/therapy , COVID-19/complications , COVID-19/therapy , Hospitalization , Asthma/diagnosis , COVID-19/diagnosis , COVID-19/epidemiology , Child, Preschool , Disease Progression , Female , Humans , Infant , Male , Oman/epidemiology , Prognosis , Severity of Illness IndexABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To describe the epidemiology, clinical and laboratory features, and outcome of children hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the Middle East. METHODS: A multicenter retrospective study of children hospitalized with COVID-19 in 7 centers across Oman between February and July 2020. RESULTS: In total, 56 children <14 years old required hospitalization in 7 Omani centers over 5 months (February - July 2020). Thirty-seven (68%) children were admitted with uncomplicated COVID-19, 13 (23%) with pneumonia and 5 (9%) with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. Infants constituted 41% of cases (23/56), approximately half of whom (12/23, 52%) were <2-months old. Fever was the most common symptom (46, 82%), followed by respiratory symptoms (33, 59%), and gastrointestinal symptoms (31, 55%). Twenty-two (39%) children had underlying medical conditions: sickle cell disease (7, 13%), chronic respiratory disease (4, 7%) and severe neurological impairment (4, 7%). Leukocytosis, elevated inflammatory markers and anemia were independently associated with intensive care admission. There were no mortalities related to admission with COVID-19 in this cohort. CONCLUSION: Most of the children hospitalized with COVID-19 had a mild course and a satisfactory outcome. Sickle cell disease is the most common comorbidity associated with pediatric admission of COVID-19 in Oman.