Open AccessCoinfection in SARS-CoV-2 Infected Children Patients
Author(s) -
Ayşe Karaaslan,
Ceren Çetin,
Yasemin Akın,
Serap Demir Tekol,
Elif Söbü,
Recep Demirhan
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of infection in developing countries
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.322
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 2036-6590
pISSN - 1972-2680
DOI - 10.3855/jidc.14314
Subject(s) - coinfection , medicine , myalgia , rhinovirus , mycoplasma pneumoniae , sore throat , enterovirus , coronavirus , respiratory system , virology , immunology , pneumonia , virus , covid-19 , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty)
The aim of this study is to determine the coinfections with other respiratory pathogens in SARS-CoV-2 infected children patients in a pediatric unit in Istanbul.
Methodology: This retrospective descriptive study was conducted in a 1000-bedded tertiary education and research hospital in Istanbul. All children hospitalized with the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection had been investigated for respiratory agents in nasopharyngeal secretions. Laboratory confirmation of SARS-CoV-2 and the other respiratory pathogens were performed using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).
Results: A total of 209 hospitalized children with suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection between March 2020-May 2020 were enrolled in this study. Among 209 children, 93 (44.5%) were RT-PCR positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection, and 116 (55.5%) were RT-PCR negative. The most common clinical symptoms in all children with SARS-CoV-2 infection were fever (68.8%) and cough (57.0%). The other clinical symptoms in decreasing rates were headache (10.8%), myalgia (5.4%), sore throat (3.2%), shortness of breath (3.2%), diarrhea (2.2%) and abdominal pain in one child. In 7 (7.5%) patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, coinfection was detected. Two were with rhinovirus/enterovirus, two were with Coronavirus NL63, one was with adenovirus, and one was with Mycoplasma pneumoniae. In one patient, two additional respiratory agents (rhinovirus/enterovirus and adenovirus) were detected. There was a significantly longer hospital stay in patients with coinfection (p = 0.028).
Conclusions: Although the coinfection rate was low in SARS-CoV-2 infected patients in our study, we found coinfection as a risk factor for length of hospital stay in the coinfected patient group.