Background: COVID-19 is a severe acute respiratory syndrome caused by SARS-CoV-2.
Objective: To study the demographic and clinical presentations of COVID-19 with their types including MIS-C and Kawasaki among children who were admitted to Doctor Jamal Ahmad Rashid Pediatric Teaching Hospital (DJARPTH) at Sulaimaniyah city, Iraq.
Patients and methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted from June to December 2020 in which 50 cases suspected of COVID-19 were enrolled in the study that was admitted at the first visit to the emergency department of DJARPTH and their age ranged between 3 months to 14 years. Then, the collected data were divided into 3 groups: COVID-19, Kawasaki disease (KD), and MIS-C.
Results: The fever was the most common presented symptom in all cases with COVID-19 regardless of the severity. COVID-19 may be presented as KD as well as MIS-C. There is an increase in the number of Kawasaki cases since 2019 by 6.7 fold due to the increased number of COVID-19 cases in children. Death was more related to MIS-C and primary COVID-19 diseases. Most COVID-19 cases presented with pericardial effusion; although coronary involvement and LV dysfunction mostly seen with MIS-C cases.
Conclusion: COVID-19 is not uncommon in pediatric patients and it presents as either primary, MIS-C, and KD. Most of the deaths and ICU outcomes were related to MIS-C presentations.
Keywords: COVID-19; Coronary disease; Kawasaki disease; MIS-C; Skin rash.
Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.