Clinical and laboratory features of the lower respiratory pathology caused by COVID-19 and bacterial pneumonia in children

Objective: Conducting comparative analysis of the clinical and laboratory features of the course of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia and pneumonia in the presence of laboratory-confirmed coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in children in Krasnoyarsk.

Methods: A retrospective clinical and laboratory analysis of 68 medical histories of children having a laboratory-confirmed diagnosis of a new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) complicated by pneumonia (2020), as well as 52 medical histories of children having community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (2019) is presented.

Results: More than half of the cases fall on children older than 7 years. Boys prevailed in both groups. The majority of children in group 1 had a moderate form of COVID-19 course. Cough is the most common symptom in children having bacterial pneumonia. Children having COVID-19 pneumonia had symptoms that were not present in children of group 2: headache – in 19.1% of cases, myalgia – 7.4%, various dyspeptic disorders. In more than 80% of cases of bacterial pneumonia, there were percussion sound dullness and local decreased breath sounds, and more frequent detection of adverse respiratory noises. Changes in the peripheral blood in children with COVID-19 were non-specific.

Conclusions: Clinical course of pneumonia in the presence of laboratory-confirmed coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in children has its specific clinical features. The most common symptoms are headache, myalgia, dyspeptic disorders. Children with bacterial pneumonia were more likely to suffer from cough and a strongly marked intoxication syndrome.

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