PERFIL CLÍNICO E EPIDEMIOLÓGICO DOS PACIENTES PEDIÁTRICOS COM COVID-19

Abstract

Introduction: the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in children and adolescents is relatively lower when compared to adults and the elderly, and the few existing data indicate that pediatric patients mostly manifest milder clinical symptoms or are asymptomatic and have a better prognosis. Objective: to map the clinical and epidemiological profile and analyze the predictors of poor prognosis of pediatric patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Methods: the work consists of a literature review on the characterization of the clinical profile of pediatric patients with COVID-19 and the determination of the predictors that lead to a more severe progression of the disease. For its elaboration, a survey of articles was conducted in the PubMed database during the month of October 2021. The following Health Science Descriptors (DeCS) were used to guide the search: Covid, Children, Neonate, Hospitalization, Severity, Clinic, and the Boolean operator "OR". We selected 18 articles that were complete and available and published in the English language between the years 2020 and 2021. Conclusion: with the limited data available and the gradual increase in cases of infection by COVID-19 in the pediatric population, there is a need for studies that trace the epidemiological and clinical profile of infected children to guide care and clinical management. Thus, it is expected that with the contribution of more scientific studies, there will be an improvement in patient outcomes and a decrease in cases requiring hospitalization in emergency and intensive care settings.