TITLE:
Pediatric Clinical Features of Covid-19 in Cameroon
AUTHORS:
Meguieze Claude-Audrey, Nseme Etouckey Eric, Mekone Nkwele Isabelle, Kalla Ginette Claude Mireille, Kamgaing Noubi Nelly, Ngo Nyeki Adèle-Rose, Onambele Paul, Ntoukem Mbakop Carlin, Koki Ndombo Paul
KEYWORDS:
Covid-19, Children, Clinical Presentation, Cameroon, Sub Saharan Africa
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Pediatrics,
Vol.12 No.1,
March
23,
2022
ABSTRACT: Introduction: The Covid-19 pandemic is a public health emergency characterized by
severe acute respiratory distress syndrome. It has many clinical forms and
affects all age groups. Despite the magnitude of this pandemic, data from
pediatric cohorts in Cameroon remain sparse. Objective: The aim of this
study was to describe the clinical presentation of Covid-19 in the pediatric
population of the Nkolndongo health district. Materials and method: A
cross-sectional study was conducted for a duration of 5 months from January to
May 2021 and covered a period of 9 months (March to December 2020). All
patients aged 0 to 19 years, suspected of having Covid-19, confirmed by
real-time RT-PCR targeting the N and ORF1 ab viral genes and managed in the
Nkolndongo health district were included. The results were analyzed using IBM
SPSS.23.0 software and the data expressed as frequencies, percentages, and
means. The threshold of statistical significance was set at 0.05. Results: This
study revealed that 48 patients out of 154 suspected cases were tested
positive. The most affected age group was adolescents aged 13 - 19 years
(92.85%). The most frequent symptoms were cough (33%), fever (42%) and nasal
discharge (25%). Infants were the least affected. 58% of patients were
asymptomatic, 47.91% were in mild stage, 8.33% in moderate stage and 4.16% in
severe stage. All the children tested positive survived. Patients with
comorbidity were 20 times more likely to develop moderate to severe clinical
forms, this being statistically significant. Conclusion: The clinical
presentation reported mainly fever, cough and anterior nasal discharge. There
was a significant association between the presence of comorbidity and the
moderate to severe degrees of severity.