Specifics of clinical manifestations of post-COVID-19 syndrome in children

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and its long-term consequences have a significant negative impact on the lives of people around the world. The long-term consequences of acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection are known as the post-COVID-19 syndrome, the symptoms of which can persist for more than 12 weeks after the onset of the disease. Despite the measures already taken to control and combat the disease, the problem of establishing the structure of post-COVID-19 syndrome, especially in children, remains an important global problem for society. Aim - to determine the data on the structure of the incidence of children with post-COVID-19 syndrome. Materials and methods. We examined 505 children under 18 years of age with post-COVID-19 syndrome who were inpatients during January-July 2023. The source of information was the medical record of an inpatient (Form 003/O). The study was conducted by randomization. All sick children underwent a comprehensive clinical and laboratory examination in accordance with standard, generally accepted methods of clinical, laboratory and instrumental examination in pediatrics. Statistical processing was performed in the EZR program package (R-statistics). Results. It was established that in children with post-COVID-19 syndrome, the smallest number were children under 3 years old (12.87%), and the largest number were children from 12 to 18 years old (31.69%). In children with post-COVID-19 syndrome, the most commonly affected sensory (80.20%) and nervous (78.61%) systems were noted. Conclusions. The lesions of the nervous and sensory systems in children with post-COVID-19 syndrome are explained by the comorbidity of SARS-CoV-2 tropism to these systems and a sharp deterioration in the socioeconomic and psycho-emotional state of children with post-COVID-19 syndrome. The distribution of the examined children by gender and age simultaneously revealed a progressive increase in the frequency of male children with post-COVID-19 syndrome with increasing age. Identification of a combination of these factors in children may increase pediatricians' alertness to the occurrence of post-COVID-19 syndrome in children and will facilitate timely correction and diagnosis of post-COVID-19 syndrome. The study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. The study protocol was approved by the Local Ethics Committee of all the institutions mentioned in the work. Informed consent of parents and children was obtained for the study. The authors declare no conflict of interest.