Retrospective Study of COVID-19 Positive Paediatric Patients Admitted in a Tertiary Care Hospital, Mizoram, India

Introduction: The clinical presentation and the difference in the pattern of presentation of Paediatric Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) positive cases between the first wave and second wave have not been studied in North Eastern region of India. Aim: To study the socio-demographic factors, clinical presentations and also to compare the pattern of presentation of Paediatric COVID-19 positive cases between the first COVID 19 wave and second COVID-19 wave. Materials and Methods: A retrospective observational study of 85 Paediatric COVID-19 positive cases admitted in Zoram Medical College, Mizoram, India, during the period from July 2020 to June 2021 was conducted. Children of age group <14 years were included in the study. The data like age, sex, type of testing done, possible primary contact, symptoms , treatment given and prognosis were collected from the case sheets in Medical Records Department. Descriptive analysis was carried out by mean and standard deviation for quantitative variables, frequency and proportion for categorical variables. Categorical outcomes were compared between study groups using Chi square test/Fisher's Exact test. Results: Records of total of 85 participants were included in the final analysis. The mean age of the study population was 6.59 years. 40 (52.94%) were male patients. Majority , 46 (54.11%) have contracted the infection from their parents. The most common symptoms reported were fever (36.47%), cough (24.71%) and cold (22.4%). A total of 9.42% had co-morbidity. The mean duration of hospital stay was 10.14±5.2 days. In age group <5 years, (58.33%) were symptomatic when compared with 5 to 10 years (16.67%) and 25% in children >10 years (p-value= <0.001). There was a significant difference in the mean age group admitted in first wave (2.91±2.94 years) versus second wave (11.38±2.91 years) (p-value <0.001). Conclusion: The children less than 5 years were more symptomatic when compared with other age groups. Also we can see a transition in age group being infected and it was greater than 10 years old in the second wave. Hence there is an urgent need to vaccinate the population less than 18 years old.