Clinical and laboratory profile of children with COVID-19 admitted at a tertiary care hospital in Karnataka, Southern India

ABSTRACT

We like to share some ideas on the publication “Clinical and laboratory profile of children with COVID-19 admitted at a tertiary care hospital in Karnataka, Southern India”1. Sahana KS, et al1 concluded that “Presence of undernutrition and elevated C-reactive protein were associated with severe illness”. In this study, some laboratory parameters were studied and there might be important confounding effects. As Sahana KS, et al1 noted, some children have nutritional problems which might affect some laboratory parameters such as ferritin and haemoglobin. Additionally, a nutrition risk screening (NRS) score should be applied. In a previous report, NRS score was a good predictor for clinical outcome in cases with sepsis and it might be applicable to cases with COVID-192. Finally, the treatment given to different children might be different and it can result in different clinical outcomes. Those cases with atypical presentation may have received additional medications and it can affect both clinical outcome and clinical parameters. For example, steroids can affect the platelet count and might help to improve the clinical outcome. © 2018. Intertax. All rights reserved.