Baseline data
The study population included 55 hospitalized patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. The age of patients ranged from 20 days to 14.0 years (6.9 ± 4.1). Thirty-four patients (17 males and 17 females) with a mean age of 6.9 ± 3.9 years had mild infection, and 21 patients (17 males and 4 females) with a mean age of 7.0±4.5 years were included in the severe group. The severe form of the disease was significantly higher in males than females (81% vs. 19%, p value= 0.02).
Among all patients, 9 cases admitted to the ICU, and 7 of them had severe pneumonia (33% in severe group and 6% in mild group, p value=0.02). Three patients received invasive mechanical ventilation. The presence of underlying diseases was significantly higher in cases with severe disease than cases in mild group (67% vs. 29%, p value= 0.011). Abnormal CT finding was found in 89% and 67% of cases with severe and mild disease, respectively (p value= 0.14). The mortality was13% (n=7), and 6 deaths (86%) occurred among cases with severe disease.