Publication
Coronavirus Disease-19 deaths among children and adolescents in an area of Northeast, Brazil: why so many?
de Siqueira Alves Lopes A, Cristina Fontes Vieira S, Lima Santos Porto R, Santana Santos V, Cristina Fontes Leite D, Eduardo Cuevas L, Queiroz Gurgel R · Trop Med Int Health · 2020
OBJECTIVE: To describe COVID-19 deaths among children and adolescents in Sergipe, Brazil. METHODS: Ecological study of all COVID-19 reported cases and deaths occurring in children and adolescents <19 years of age in Sergipe reported by the health surveillance and mortality information systems of Sergipe's Health Secretary and hospital records. RESULTS: 37 deaths of children <19 years old were reported up to 30(th) September 2020, corresponding to 4.87 deaths for 100,000 population <19 years old. Most deaths occurred among infants (44.1/100,000), and this age group had the highest case fatality rate (15.3 %). Most children had comorbidities such as chronic neurological diseases (n=7; 19%) and prematurity (n=4; 11%). Most children who died (n=18; 49%) were not admitted to intensive care units (ICU). CONCLUSION: COVID-19 mortality in children and adolescents in Sergipe was higher than in other Brazilian states and in high-income countries. A large proportion of the deaths occurred among children with co-morbidities and a minority of children were admitted to ICU, reflecting the limited provision of such beds in the State. Newborns and infants are a high-risk group that must have priority in health public policy.
Synced from the TRENDS in Pediatric Palliative Care Zotero library, curated by The Siden Research Team. ICPCN does not host or verify the full text.