Dar Iang Maureen, Hassan Ola El Hajj, McGowan Maureen, Basaleem Huda, Al-Sakkaf Khaled, Jahn Albrecht, Dureab Fekri
Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, Hospital University, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Aden, Madinat Al-Shaab, 63 O2, Aden P.O. Box 11011, Yemen.
Children (Basel). 2022 Nov 8;9(11):1712. doi: 10.3390/children9111712.
Background: This study aims to describe the observable symptoms of children with COVID-19 infection and analyze access to real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing among children seeking care in Yemen. Method: In the period of March 2020−February 2022, data were obtained from 495 children suspected to have been infected with COVID-19 (from a larger register of 5634 patients) from the Diseases Surveillance and Infection Control Department at the Ministry of Public Health and Population in Aden, Yemen. Results: Overall, 21.4% of the children with confirmed COVID-19 infection were asymptomatic. Fever (71.4%) and cough (67.1%) were the most frequently reported symptoms among children, and children were less likely to have fever (p < 0.001), sore throat (p < 0.001) and cough (p < 0.001) compared to adults. A lower frequency of COVID-19-associated symptoms was reported among children with positive RT-PCR tests compared to children with negative tests. A lower rate of testing was conducted among children (25%) compared to adults (61%). Fewer tests were carried out among children <5 years (11%) compared to other age groups (p < 0.001), for children from other nationalities (4%) compared to Yemeni children (p < 0.001) and for girls (21%) compared to boys (30%) (p < 0.031). Conclusion: Understanding and addressing the cause of these disparities and improving guidelines for COVID-19 screening among children will improve access to care and control of the COVID-19 pandemic.
本研究旨在描述新冠病毒感染儿童的可观察症状，并分析也门寻求医疗服务的儿童中进行实时聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）检测的情况。方法：在2020年3月至2022年2月期间，从也门亚丁公共卫生和人口部疾病监测与感染控制部门的495名疑似感染新冠病毒的儿童（来自5634名患者的更大登记册）获取数据。结果：总体而言，确诊感染新冠病毒的儿童中有21.4%无症状。发热（71.4%）和咳嗽（67.1%）是儿童中报告最频繁的症状，与成人相比，儿童发热（p<0.001）、喉咙痛（p<0.001）和咳嗽（p<0.001）的可能性较小。与RT-PCR检测结果为阴性的儿童相比，检测结果为阳性的儿童中报告的新冠病毒相关症状频率较低。儿童的检测率（25%）低于成人（61%）。与其他年龄组相比，5岁以下儿童（11%）的检测较少（p<0.001），与也门儿童相比，其他国籍儿童（4%）的检测较少（p<0.001），女孩（21%）的检测少于男孩（30%）（p<0.031）。结论：了解并解决这些差异的原因，改善儿童新冠病毒筛查指南，将有助于改善医疗服务的可及性并控制新冠疫情。
