Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in pediatric hospital surgical unit: a lower-middle-income country perspective.

Autor:	Habib M; Department of Neonatal and Paediatric Surgery, The Children's Hospital, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan., Javed N; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan., Burki SA; Department of Neonatal and Paediatric Surgery, The Children's Hospital, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan., Ahmed M; Department of Neonatal and Paediatric Surgery, The Children's Hospital, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan., Chaudhary MA; Department of Neonatal and Paediatric Surgery, The Children's Hospital, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Journal of tropical pediatrics [J Trop Pediatr] 2023 Oct 05; Vol. 69 (6).
DOI:	10.1093/tropej/fmad039
Abstrakt:	Background: The objective of our study was to measure and give insight into the seropositivity of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the patients in our pediatric hospital surgical unit in Pakistan. Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted at a tertiary care pediatric hospital surgical unit in Pakistan between 1 January 2021 and 1 June 2021 on the enrolled neonates and children aged 1 day to 13 years. All patients from three different pediatric strata [neonates (<1 month), infants (1 to 12 months) and children (>1 year)] were enrolled in the study. Results: Six-hundred patients were enrolled, and 426 patients were included in the study. Among 426 patients, 234 (54.9%) were male, and 192 (45.1%) were female. Overall only 118 (27.7%) patients developed symptoms. The other 308 (72.3%) were asymptomatic of which 28 (9.1%) had fever, 28 (9.1%) had cough, 38 (12.33%) had body aches, 292 (94.8%) had vomiting/diarrhea, and only 28 (9.1%) developed loss of smell and taste. Our results showed seropositivity of 27.7% (n = 118), while 72.3% (n = 308) had negative antibody titers. Conclusion: A much higher pediatric SARS-CoV-2 burden of 27.7% was found in our pediatric surgical unit than has previously been reported in the literature of 6.8% for children in pediatric hospitals or pediatric surgical units. Contrary to reporting early in the COVID-19 pandemic, this study determined that children experience a significant burden of COVID-19 infection. Thus, children appear very important in SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, from harboring the virus and further studies need to be done to find if they are transmitting the disease silently. (© The Author(s) [2023]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
Externí odkaz:	Zobrazit plný text záznamu