COVID-19 in Children a Descriptive Study at the Security Forces Hospital (SFH)-AL Riyadh-Saudi Arabia

Coronaviruses (CoV) are RNA respiratory viruses that present with a wide range of symptomatology which range from common cold to severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). In December 2019 a new strain was discovered in China named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), named “COVID-19” by World Health Organization (WHO).

Objective: To study the prevalence and clinical presentation of COVID-19 among children attended pediatrics emergency department.

Result: from 1st March to 30th of June 2020. During the study period, a total of 223 patients with age between 16 days and 12 years were diagnosed as positive COVID-19. Male were 52%. Fever was found in 39.9%, cough in 14.3%, and diarrhea in 3.6%.

Conclusion: our study gives a clue to the clinical presentation of COVID-19 in pediatric populations.