Epidemiological and clinical profile of children with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the center for the treatment of epidemics and infection prevention (CTEIP) of the university hospital of Donka in Conakry

COVID-19 is caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus, which is genetically similar to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus In pediatrics, it has a benign clinical course Since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in Guinea, whose epicenter was Conakry, pediatric cases have been reported at the CTEIP in Donka The purpose of this study was to determine their epidemiological profile We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study of children aged 0-16 years admitted to the CTEIP, Donka, over a period of four months Out of 7308 patients, coming predominantly from 5 communes of Conakry and hospitalized in the CTEPI, 189 were aged between 0 and 16 years (2 59%) The majority of patients were within the age-group 0-4-years (38 62%) with a sex-ratio (F/M) of 1 52;62 96% were students, 70% of children lived in Conakry, 28 57% of mothers were traders and contact persons (39 68%);37 57% of fathers were civil servants, 2 65% of children had a history of sickle cell disease and 1 59% had allergic rhinitis Asymptomatic patients accounted for 52 38% of cases and diagnosed patients were 74 6% Symptoms included fever, rhinorrhea, headache, cough, abdominal pain, sneezing, diarrhea, physical asthenia The incidence of COVID-19 among children hospitalized in the CTEIP of Donka is low Children aged 5 years and older are more affected and nearly 50% are asymptomatic Common symptoms are fever, headache, rhinorrhea, cough, abdominal pain, sneezing, diarrhea, physical asthenia