Abstract

LOPEZ, Juan José; LANCHEROS, Fabio; DAZA, Angélica María  and  LANCHEROS, Diocel Orlando. Characterization of a Low-Income Pediatric Population Living Above 2500 m. a. s. l. Positive for SARS-COV-2. Rev. Med [online]. 2021, vol.29, n.2, pp.19-46.  Epub Aug 01, 2022. ISSN 0121-5256.  https://doi.org/10.18359/rmed.5798.

Infection with the new SARS-COV-2 has impacted the entire society, including children, in various ways. The behavior of this disease in a low-income pediatric population located above 2500 m. a. s. I. is described. This is a cross-sectional retrospective study carried out between March and October 2020 in Bogotá involving children between 1 month and 14years old with positive RT-PCR for SARS-COV-2. History, sociodemographic, clinical, laboratory, radiological and evolutionary characteristics were studied, grouping the patients according to severity and analyzing their significance (p < 0.05). As a result, 416 cases were obtained, of which 43.3 % were asymptomatic, 46.6 % mildly symptomatic, 8.9 % severe, and 1.2 % critical. Of the consultants to the emergency room, those under 1 year of age were the most frequent (56.79 %) and those who were hospitalized the most (35.8 %). The time between the onset of symptoms and consultation was an average of 2 days. The most frequent diagnosis in non-hospitalized patients was rhinopharyngitis (58.97 %), and in those who were hospitalized it was bronchiolitis (50 %). The median hospitalization time for the entire group was 4 days, which was extended to 7 days for those who required ICU. Hospitalization is associated with, among other causes, nutritional indices < 2 SD, tachypnea, respiratory distress, hypoxemia, lymphopenia (in those older than 2 years) (p < 0.05), with neither overcrowding nor socioeconomic status as influencing factors. After the study, it was possible to conclude that the disease is generally much milder among children than in adults, differing from these in predisposing factors, paraclinical factors, and evolution. However, some demographic, clinical and laboratory variables could be associated with greater severity in this population group.

Keywords : altitude; Bogota; coronaviruses; pediatrics; SARS-COV-2; socioeconomic level.

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